Second Chances
by Nataly Ravenlock
Summary: {COMPLETE!} Friends are only enemies that stab you in the front. Alliances can be deadly and people can turn their backs on you in an instant. You can never tell who is which until the last instant, when you need them the most...
1. Azkaban's Devilry

{Disclaimer:  J.K. Rowlings owns all the Harry Potter World.  I only own my characters and probably the plot, as twisted as it may be.}{Reposted 3/14/02}

{Author's Note:  I know I said sometime ago that I would finish a fic before starting the next one, but damn it, this one has been nagging me for the past weeks!  You know how hard it is to sleep when scenes run through your head and ideas just pop up and you want to think about them but you have a test or two the next day and rehearsal for the school play as well?  BTW, this has been revised and reposted for the sake of glaring typos and ideas that actually helped out as to where this tale is going, which was not figured out before.  Okay, I'm blabbering, on with the show.}

Jackie, this one's for you and your dancing pirates.

**Chapter 1**

**Azkaban's**** Devilry**

_**Is this home?/ Am I here for a day or forever?/ Shut away/ From the world until who knows when/ Oh, but then/ As my life has been altered once/ It can change again/ Build higher walls around me/ Change every lock and key/ Nothing lasts/ Nothing holds/ All of me/ My heart's far, far away/ Home and free. "Home" Beauty and the Beast**_

I sat in the cell alone.  Darkness covered everything like a thick blanket, save it was not as warm and comforting as it should be.  A cold wet chill hung over the air as it always did and always would.  I shivered.  Even after sixteen years, it still was cold and froze me to the bone.

Azkaban was the kind of place that no one in their right or wrong mind would ever want to be.  It was a prison that made Alcatraz or Chateau d'If seem like an afternoon tea party or a trip to the circus in comparison.  The walls were damp, the floors were cold.  Conditions in general were horrid, like they should be.  The Dementors made it worse.  They could take away every happy thought a person had that they needed to survive just by coming near them.  They sucked out elation and all emotions until a person had none left and slowly went insane from the misery and depression.  It was like being in a void with no feeling, being near the Dementors.  They could terrify the strongest person, make them beg for mercy.  For the weak it was always worse.  For the prisoners on the other hand, worse did not yet begin to describe it.

I sat in the farthest corner away from the open bars of my cage.  I let my eyes unfocus and hid myself in the deep dungeons of my mind.  The guards thought that I was going insane, like most of the prisoners did.  No, not me; I was as a sane as I ever would be.  I began to count the bricks on my wall again.  There were 13,487 separate stones making up the chamber.  Every one was memorized down to the smallest cracks and divots that marked them.  I laughed quietly to myself, not uttering a sound.  I had yet to name them.  They were yet to be named.

Food came twice a day, usually a bowl of gruel or cold soup if I was lucky.  It hadn't come yet today.  I closed my eyes trying to remember the last time that I had felt full.  It wasn't just the hunger that gnawed constantly at me, but the need to be full of life, full of emotion, full of warmth and love.  I pulled the meager, blue, moth eaten blanket around me and waited for another worthless day to pass.

I had gotten to stone number 1,652, a large roundish stone pocketed with scratches from the prisoner before me, when a cloaked figure approached my cell.  His eyes searched my holding area, looking for me and finally stopped as they reached the shadowed corner where I sat.  "Come."  His voice was held a deep tone, smooth like oil, yet corrosive as acid.  I stayed where I was.  This man was not one that I recognized and definitely not a guard so there was no reason that I could think of to obey him.  "I told you to get over here.  Now."  There was no response for this command either for the same reason as figured out before.  He pulled out a wand from deep with in the folds of his robes, but before he could react another figure stepped forward.  "_Crucio!"_

I was already on the floor, but toppled over at the sound of the curse.  It missed me by less than a hair's breadth and hit the stone wall where it could not do any major damage since rocks cannot feel pain.

"Damn you!" the figure swore at me.  He added a few other choice words to the description as well that would have caused certain people to blush and flinch.  I sat passively watching from the floor, not bothered by the things that I was called.  I had put up with language like that for the entire time that I had been here and the times before.

The second man gestured into the hallway while the first glared menacing at me.  Two large men who owned more muscles than brains walked quickly into my cell.  They grabbed me roughly, each taking an arm and dragged me out to where the other two were waiting.  There was no way that I would be able to get out of this.  Four to one odds were not in my favor, especially if at least two of them had wands and I only had my fists and other limbs.  The two men set me up-right on my feet, but kept a tight hold.

"When I say come, you will come.  Understand?"

I looked up into the second man's pale eyes and spat directly up into his face.  He wiped away the spittle with the sleeve of his robe.  "Take her away!"

The two men stared blankly at each other.  "Where to, Boss?"

"You idiots!  Take her to Head Quarters!"

I was dragged half-stumbling down the hall and out into the bright sun that I had not seen for sixteen years.  My eyes filled with tears from the joy of seeing the sunlight, the sky, the sea, and the clouds and from the fact that my eyes were not used to light.  I blinked to clear them as I felt myself disappear into a black void.  Apparating, I decided, recognizing the void-like feeling.  I had done it many times in my past though I could not remember exactly what for.

We appeared in a corridor in front of a large pair of ornate wooden doors guarded by two figures dressed completely in black with helmets that concealed their faces and long hooked spears with forest tassels.  The spears were crossed in front of the door barring entrance to anyone that wished to pass inside.  The other two men that I had met at Azkaban appeared a few seconds later carrying between them three limp prisoners.  I recognized them from cells nearby even though I did not know their names.

Names, I thought for a moment.  I once had a name, I think.  I don't remember it now.  Too long have I been imprisoned and known only by a number or 'hey you!' or some other degrading phrase that my name is now only a past shadow of the life I had before.  That was another thing I would never see again; life.  I do not remember much of my life before Azkaban, save flashes of memories and faces.

The two men seemed to be in charge and walked right up to the door.  It slowly swung open, revealing an equally dark room and a carpet that matched the color of the tassels on the guard's spears.  The two henchmen dragged me down the aisle rather unceremoniously for such a grand looking court.  We stopped in front of a raised gilded dais.  The throne was gold with black highlights, probably onyx or obsidian, and worked with serpentine shapes.  On it was seated a figure dressed completely in black with a deep hood covering his face.  The men bowed low before the person on the throne.

"You shall submit yourself to the Dark Lord!  Bow down before him!" one of the people behind shouted in my ear.  I stayed standing.  The Dark Lord was dead.

Someone came up behind me and hit me hard through both my knees.  I crumpled to the floor in a heap.  I was too weak, but no, I wouldn't let weakness take over me.  From the ground I sprang back up, launching myself at the guard that had hit me.    He was armed with only a long spear, which would not be his for much longer, I decided.  I hit him as hard as I could with my fist, using surprise as my ally.  He seemed stunned for a moment as if not expecting anyone to do what I had just done to him, but he did not loosen his grip on the spear.  I kicked him straight in the stomach and he bent over with a grunt.  Now the spear was mine.  I twirled it around, testing the balance.  It reminded me of a quarter staff that I had long ago…

Two other cloaked people came up behind me.  Trusting my instincts, which were one of the few things that I could still trust, I spun around to face both of them.  I hit the first one in the throat with the sharp point.  The other was knocked on the temple with the blunt end.  He kept coming and ended up on the ground with a smashed elbow.  'Where had I learned to do this?' I wondered to myself, not remembering anything about learning to staff fight and continuing to take on anyone that would oppose me.   They wouldn't take me without a fight.

I disabled at least five others before someone had the right mind to call out "_Stupefy!" and try to stun me.  I collapsed yet again on the floor in dodging it.  Four burly men grabbed me immediately and held me pinned to the ground._

The room's silence was broken by applause from the throne above me.  "Bravo.  You have succeeded in disabling seven of my men and killing three without the use of magic.  Well done.  You shall be a great asset to my cause.  Wormtail!  Which prisoner is this?"

The pale man standing to the side of the throne looked down a long list.  "Prisoner number 9162538, Master.  No name is given.  The only information given about her is a short description and that she was Silenced before the trial, Master.  She is not a Death Eater."

"Take her to the back with the others.  I still want her in my troops."

Yet again I was dragged away.  Whatever causes this man wanted me to fight for; I would not join his ranks.  If anything I would rather fight against him.  The holding pen that I was brought to was not a pen at all.  In fact there was a group of maybe twenty some fellow prisoners all in various stages of going insane and in general a miserable lot guarded by a group of six guards all carrying wands and spears.  I looked around surveying if there was a chance of escape.

I remembered a similar scene like this from my past.  There was no memory of what I had done or how I had survived the encounter that I could use to my advantage.  'Damn!' I swore to myself and then I saw the open door off to the side.

The door was small, unobtrusive, and unguarded.  Who knew where it would go, but anywhere had to be better than here.  Where ever it went it would be the perfect way to get out.  I moved slowly to the wall nearest to the door.  Leaning against the wall, I waited for the right time to smile upon me.  And smile it did.  All the Death Eaters, I guessed that was what these people were, turned to face the Dark Lord and saluted to him, in turn turning their backs on the prisoners.  I made a run for it.  Just as I reached the door, I heard someone scream, "Prisoner escaping!"

I ran through the door into a dark hallway.  I guess that they didn't like lights very much here.  I ran as fast I could, which was not very fast considering how long I had been imprisoned.  I could hear footfalls behind me.  I raced around the next corner to find brilliant illumination.  Sunlight, a window, an escape route.  I poked my head out.  It was only a few feet to the ground.  Looking behind me I jumped outside to safety and kept running.  The men were not far behind me.  I ran forward, not knowing where I was or where I was headed.  I turned against to glance behind me and felt my feet loose balance for a moment.  The only thing I could was step back.  Below me crashed the waves of the ocean and with them freedom.  The men were getting closer.  I looked back at the far drop to the water and leapt ungracefully over the cliff.

The water was deeper than I thought.  I landed hard and came back up for air.  To my left I heard another splash and saw the head of one of the Death Eaters bob up.  Stubborn gits, aren't they?  I swam, not getting far from my weakness.  I felt strong arms pulled near the rocks into a small cave.

"Listen to me.  You are dead; you have drowned.  Understood?" his speech was terse and short.

I looked at him with an expression of puzzlement mixed with resentment and his face softened for a moment.  He shook his head.  "I am going to help you."  He took a hold of one of my abused arms and disapparated.

We appeared sopping wet in the middle of a hallway.  "Stay here.  You'll be safe.  Get cleaned up.  You need it.  The bathroom is at the top of the stairs.  I will be back in a few minutes."  The man disappeared again.

I was alone.  I was free.  I was alive.  I lay down on the hardwood floor and cried softly for a few moments.  I didn't know whether to get up or stay where I was.  The man did suggest to clean myself up.  I pulled myself up and gazed at my surroundings.  It looked like a normal house from what I could tell.  I had not been inside a house since, I didn't remember when.  I went up the stairs.

The bathroom was where he had said it would be.  I entered and stared.  To my left was a mirror showing back a face that I did not recognize.  I realized it was me.  The eyes were sunken and filled with the feeling of horrors untold.  The hair that was once a sandy blond had been turned black and dull with grime and tangled into knots that could not be untied.  Cheek bones protruded from tight skin.  I shivered and turned away from my own image.

I quickly filled the tub with hot water.  I stepped inside and gasped at the heat.  Slowly, I slid down until I was immersed completely.  Using a brush and a bar of soap that I had found, I scrubbed off the layers of dirt and filth until my skin turned red.  My hair was another problem, but it was manageable and became once again its original color.  I sat in the tub until the water cooled and finally emerged.

The face in the mirror seemed less haunting.  The skin was a healthier pink.  The hair was its original blond color but was in desperate need of being cut.  The eyes…  The eyes still held the look that would live in my nightmares for weeks to come.

I opened up the medicine cabinet behind the mirror, finding a pair of scissors.  They were taken out and locks of my hair were chopped off into the garbage can.  With all the knots out, my hair became lighter and shorter.  I stopped cutting it around when it was short and loosely layered.  'Much better,' I decided to myself glancing at the mess sitting there.  I was not going to put on the rags that I had been wearing before, so they were promptly placed on top of my cut-off locks.  Clothes, I needed clothes.  I would not be good to be seen in the nude by a man I had not formally met.  Not that I cared.  I had a brief memory of being on stage in the spotlight acting and the voice from the past, maybe a friend, maybe an enemy whispering something about the stage knowing no modesty.  I wrapped a fluffy green towel around my clean skin and went out the door.  There were three doors in the corridor that might lead to something useful.

The first door was closed and locked unfortunately.  I probably could have gotten in if I really felt the need to break and enter.  The second door led to a bedroom done completely in black, green, and sliver.  It was an impressive sight to behold.  The floors were hardwood with a few tastefully placed throw rugs in forest green patterns.  A huge four posted bed sat in the middle of the room with a presence to be noticed.  A matching armoire and nightstand stood nearby.  I decided to try the next room to see if that would bring me anything else.

The third door opened to a seldom used room decorated in shades of pale yellow and green, like springtime.  It was light and airy in comparison to the room next door.  Two old trunks stood off to one side almost begging me to open them, so I did.  I rummaged through the first one finding old robes that would have been too huge to fit me even slightly.  It was closed and the other opened.  The second trunk was more what I was looking for.  It held Muggle clothing, which I decided would be better than over sized robes.  I found a pair of baggy khakis that seemed to be the right length but a bit large in the waist.  They were pulled on over a pair of plaid boxers that were also in the trunk along with a fire engine red cropped top that had a silver star in the center of it.

I looked at myself in the mirror that was hanging on the wall.  'Wow,' I sighed to myself.  The figure staring back me seemed at least a few years younger that she had been when I first saw the reflection.  The first word that came to my mind was skater.  I looked like a Muggle skater chick.  I laughed lightly to myself.

I sighed, not knowing what to do and wanting to do everything at once.  Exploring seemed to be the first thought that passed through my mind.  I had found all the doors on the second floor and what were behind them (except for the locked one).  Downstairs was the next option so there I went.  I had been in the entrance hall when we first appeared here.  There was the choice of either right of left.  Left brought me into the kitchen.  I would get food later.  I had done without it before.  I kept going, searching quietly.  From the kitchen, I came to the dining room.  Off to one side of the dining room was a door that led to a small study with a neatly organized desk.  The doorway on the other side led me to the living room.  The living was huge to say the least with a high, vaulted ceiling.  It had the normal amounts of furniture, including a grand piano.  I approached the piano softly and stroked my hand across the smooth keys without a sound.  Looking around to see if anyone was there, I sat down at the instrument.

My fingers touched the keys with light caresses.  The only major thing that I had remembered about my life before was that I had learned to play the piano.  It had been something that I had started learning when I was just a young girl.  I brushed against one of the keys harder than I had before.  An E-flat rang through the room like a bell.  I jumped from where I sat, looking around the room.  No one was there.  I was safe for now.

I sat down once again at the keys, humming softly through my head a melody that I had sang when my voice still existed.  I hit the first notes, tentatively remembering which keys to play and what order they were to be hit in.  The lyrics echoed as memories of the past.

_Why are there so many songs about rainbows_

_And what's on the other side?_

_Rainbows are visions but only illusions_

_And rainbows have nothing to hide._

_So we've been told and some choose to believe it;_

_I know they're wrong; wait and see_

_Someday we'll find it_

_The Rainbow Connection;_

_The lovers, the dreamers, and me.___

_Who said that ev'ry wish would be heard and answered_

_When wished on the morning star?_

_Somebody thought of that,_

_And someone believed it;_

_Look what it's done so far._

_What's so amazing that keeps us star gazing?_

_And what do we think we might see?_

_Someday we'll find it_

_The Rainbow Connection_

_The lovers, the dreamers, and me.___

_All of us under its spell;_

_We know that it's probably magic._

_Have you been half asleep?_

_Or have you heard voices?_

_I hear them calling my name._

_Is this the sweet song that calls the young sailors?_

_The voice might be one and the same._

_I've heard it too many times to ignore it._

_It's something I'm s'pposed to be._

_Someday we'll find it_

_The Rainbow Connection_

_The lovers, the dreamers, and me.___

_La da da de, da da do, la la da da da de da do._

I finished the last chord triumphantly hitting a low G.  I heard foot steps in the corridor outside the room.  The master of the house must be home.  I leapt off the piano bench to wait for him to come.

{Another Author's Note/ Disclaimer:  The song is called The Rainbow Connection.  It is by Paul Williams and Kenneth L. Ascher and was used in The Muppet Movie.  I believe the scene dealt with Kermit the Frog playing a banjo in a swamp.  The Chateau d'If is the prison from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, which is a very good book and movie by the way.  I do not own the song, or the book, or the movie.  I think that's about it.  Read and review this.  It will get better I hope.  Read my other stories while you're at it.  ("Harry Potter and the Beasts of Shadow" and "Chaos Tie-Dyed and Loving It!"  The first one is finished for now; the second one is a work in progress, like this one.)  Thanks for whatever and May The Force Be With You, Nataly Ravenlock}


	2. Why?

{Disclaimer:  I don't own anything, save the nameless character that I created from the depth of my imagination along with anything else that you don't recognize.}

This chapter is for Pixie, who was a wonderful, purring lap warmer during the writing of most of this chapter, even though I don't think she was supporting my writing and just wanted to be fed and petted.

**Chapter 2**

**Why?**

_"So long as human beings stay human, death and life are the same thing." 1984 George Orwell_

He never knew what had made him do it.

The raid had been well planned and executed with precision.  The Dementors had willingly joined the dark forces.  The prisoners had been brought to Lord Voldemort.  Death Eaters that had been held in Azkaban were returned to the ranks.  All the others had been offered to join the swelling numbers of the Death Eaters.  Those that had not turned insane during their long stay mostly felt it was best to join with the Dark Lord.  The ones that were insane were simply killed.

And then there was the girl…

Snape figured it out after a while.  It had been her eyes that compelled him to save her from Lord Voldemort.  The dark eyes, filled with anger, yet so easily blank when they needed to be.  She had fought back.  After the years that she had been imprisoned, she still had the will power to rebel.  She could fight and would not bend against her beliefs.  She could dodge curses thrown at her.  Snape had decided that there was much more to her than there seemed to be.

She had been the only prisoner in the raid to escape.  No others had even tried.  No one else had the spunk to spit directly in Lucius Malfoy's face.  No other prisoner had struggled and taken out a good handful of Death Eaters with only a spear.  No other prisoner had the mind to escape.

How she escaped was an entire different matter.  Lord Voldemort had called the Death Eaters to bow down before him, to show their complete obedience to him and him alone.  She had snuck away through an open door and only by a slim chance was seen by a quick turn of a head.  Snape felt the need to run after her.  He was faster and more in shape than some of the other Death Eaters there.  He ran after her through the twisting corridors, out into the front of the castle and almost over the edge into the sea.  She had turned to look at him with those dark eyes and jumped into the water.  Snape followed with a graceful swan dive.

She landed easily with Snape surfacing a few seconds behind.  He swam quickly towards her, pulling her into a recessed cave where they could not be seen. "Listen to me.  You are dead; you have drowned.  Understood?"  Snape was terse and short with his speech.  There was not much time.  She gave him a puzzled look, not being able to speak.  "I am going to help you."  Snape grabbed her arm and apparated quickly to one of his houses in a small Muggle development.  It had worked as a hide out before; it would do for now.  "Stay here.  You'll be safe.  Get cleaned up.  You need it.  The bathroom is at the top of the stairs.  I will be back in a few minutes."

Snape disappeared, leaving her alone on the floor.  He reappeared in the water and apparated back onto the dry land above.  "She's dead, killed herself between jumping onto the rocks and drowning.  We don't have to worry about her anymore."  They had believed him.  Morons, all of them were blathering idiots.  Then again it was likely that any of the prisoners would be highly suicidal after being in Azkaban for so long.  That did make it plausible, but that was their problem if they believed him.

Lord Voldemort had not been pleased with the information that his prisoner that had showed some promise was dead, but accepted it as a fact.  There were many more that would fight for him.  The Death Eaters had been dismissed.

Snape apparated back to his Muggle house were he had left the girl.  He had to stop thinking of her as a girl.  She was probably as old as he was, give or take a few years.  She was only built like a girl.  Snape heard the echoes of someone playing the piano in his living room.  There was more to this woman than he had originally thought.  He did not recognize the song that she played even though it sounded vaguely familiar.  Snape walked toward where he had heard her playing, heading towards the haunting melody.

She was standing in front of the instrument when he arrived, balanced on the balls of her bare feet like a predatory waiting to leap or maybe a rabbit ready to run and hide, yet paralyzed with the fear of not knowing who he was.

"Hello," Snape said warmly.  He had to be careful, knowing what she had done before.  He eyes still held a look of fear.  "I am not going to hurt you."

The fear slowly left her eyes to be replaced with a look of confusion.  "Okay, this is difficult, isn't it?  One sided conversations never work well."  Snape pulled out his wand and pointed it at her.

The girl's eyes widened at the sight of the wand.  She leapt forward at him, hand clawed like a wild beast.  She grabbed him by the throat and forced him to floor.  With nimble fingers she forced the wand out of his hand and ran back to a far corner of the room, holding it tightly.  Snape was left to pull himself up from the floor.  "Give that back.  All I was going to do with it was remove the curse laid upon you so that you can talk."

She looked at him with an expression that clearly said 'oh' even though it was mixed with distrust.  She walked slowly across the room and placed the wand in Snape's open palm.  Snape whispered a few words to the wand and pointed it at her.  A streak of white light burst out of the tip toward her throat.  Tendrils of light wrapped around it, sending their healing energies through her veins.  She could feel the power healing her broken vocal cords and bringing them back to life.  "Thank you," she whispered softly, voice rough from disuse.

"You're welcome.  Next time I try to help you, don't attempt to kill me."

She looked at him with raised eyebrows.  "I did not try to murder you.  All I did was disarm you.  If had wanted to murder you, you would be dead by now." 

Snape glared at her and she glared back just as steadily, a tall dark man staring down a shorter brightly clothed girl.  "Just make sure it does not happen again."

"I can't promise you that, but I will try."

"Good enough.  Now, who are you?"

She furrowed her brows, thinking.  "I don't know."

"You don't know who you are?  How can you not remember your own name?"

"After sixteen years locked up in a tiny, dark cell, you start to forget things.  I don't remember my name, my past, anything save a few bits and pieces that come to me."  She shook her head.  "I just don't know."

'Great,' Snape thought to himself.  'Of all the people there, I found the one that doesn't remember anything.'  He asked her another question.  "So you don't remember why you were locked away in Azkaban."

She took a deep breath and sighed.  "That's one of the few things that I remember.  It still haunts my nightmares.  That memory will never leave me…" she trailed off, looking away.

"What did you do?  If you are going to stay here for a while, it would be nice to know who exactly is staying here."

"I murdered a few people."  She told him like it a matter of fact, not at all gruesome or something that people don't want to hear.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, I did.  I think it ended up to be about five or six before I was captured."

"And you killed them with magic?"

She looked aghast.  "Of course not!  I murdered all of them with my bare hands, no magic what so ever."

"How do I know you won't murder me then?"

"All of them were done away with for a very good cause.  They were all Tom's supporters," she spat the name.  "Without the marks.  Some of them worked in the Ministry.  I guess that was why they put me away even though I was doing it for their own good."

Snape nodded slightly.  "You mean Tom Marvolo Riddle?

"Oh, yes, the slimy git that he is.  Self styled pompous idiot who was able to gain power just because he decided to be evil."

Snape didn't know whether or not to tell her that he was a Death Eater.  It might cause some problems in the future if he kept it secret yet he did not know her well enough to know that she wouldn't kill him out right.  "You do realize that the people who took you from Azkaban were all supporters of Lord Voldemort?"

She nodded.  "I suspected that.  It also means that you are at least a partial supporter of Voldemort, but not completely."

"And how did you figure that out?" Snape decided that once again there was a lot more to this woman than he had guessed there to be.

"A true supporter would have either killed me or returned me to the Dark Lord.  Because you saved my life, you cannot be entirely loyal to him, which also could mean that you are a two sided double under cover agent for the good guys."

"And you figured this out how?"

"I just explained that to you.  You would have turned me in or murdered me.  You did not do so, which means you have some good in you.  Which is why I won't kill you because I owe you my life."

"Right.  That is encouraging to know that I won't be found dead in the morning."

"May I ask you a few questions?"

"Certainly.  I have been bombarding you with some."

"Who are you other than a Death Eater turned good?"

"Snape, Severus Snape.  I teach Potions at Hogwarts and am the Head of the Slytherin house."

"Oh," she sounded rather impressed with all of that.  "You were a Slytherin, then.  That would explain a lot.  Do you have any tea?"

"Tea?"

"Yes, tea.  In the sixteen years that I was imprisoned at Azkaban, I never had a cup of tea.  It was quite dreadful."

"And I suppose you would like some food as well?"

"That would be a plus, considering I haven't eaten in," she counted on her fingers and gave up after three.  "a couple days."

Snape raised an eyebrow with careful precision.  "I should have some leftovers in the refrigerator, if you don't mind."

"That would be wonderful, actually."

Snape left to go to the kitchen, leaving the girl standing in the middle of the living room.  She followed after him, watching him make sandwiches in the kitchen after putting a pot of water on for tea.  "You prefer Muggle methods?"

Snape's head snapped up.  He hadn't expected her to be standing there.  "Yes, I do.  Is there a problem with that?"

"Oh, no, of course not.  I was just wondering."

Snape finished the sandwiches, putting each on a black plate decorated with a border of intertwined serpents.  Matching mugs were pulled out of a cupboard and hot tea was poured into them.  He passed her a plate and mug.  Taking his own meal, Snape went back to the living room and sat in a straight backed chair.  The woman followed like a shadow, sitting in a chair across from him.  Snape watched as she slowly ate the sandwich, savoring every bite and sipping the tea.  She had changed from when he had dragged her in from sea.  Her matted hair was shorter and blond instead of the dark filthy color that it had been.  He skin was pale from the lack of sunlight, but clean.  She had found some of the clothes he kept for disguises when he wanted to go out into the Muggle world.  He had forgotten that some of the items in there were female clothing.  It brought back memories from when he still had a sister and partner.

"Thank you," she said after a long pause.

"For what?"

"For every thing that you have done for me.  For saving my life and taking me in even when you didn't know what I was."

"I still don't know exactly what you are.  You don't even have a name yet that you remember.  You will need a name eventually."

"I'll think of one."  She nodded.  "I will think of something.  Do you have a place that I can sleep?"

Snape looked at her.  "You can have the bedroom where you found the clothes."

"Thank you.  Good night."  She left the room, heading up the stairs.  Snape watched her leave.  He picked up the dishes and mugs realizing that he had barely touched his own sandwich.  They were brought to the kitchen and washed by hand.  He went into his study and sat down in the leather chair behind his desk.

He did not know what to do.  He had rescued a murder from Azkaban who had lost her memory.  Snape did not know if she was telling the truth or not.  For all he knew, she could kill him by morning, happy thought that it was.  There were no reasons to trust her.  There were no reasons not to trust her.  He could do this in one of two ways.  Wait until she regained her strength and send her out into the world alone or keep her with him.  Either way posed a problem.  If he sent her away another Death Eater would find and maybe murder him if they recognized her.  He would die if they recognized her and realized that he had lied.  If he kept her with him, she would either have to stay at the house or take her with him to Hogwarts.  He didn't know how Dumbledore would feel if he brought a convicted murdered with him to Hogwarts.  She might kill someone there.

Either way there was not much he could do.  The first step would be to ask Dumbledore.  Dumbledore would know what to do; he always did.  There was still time in the day to apparate into Hogsmeade and walk to Hogwarts from there.  That would be what he would do.  He scribbled a quick note to the girl, explaining that he had to run a few errands and would be back in a few hours.  The note was signed and left on the kitchen counter.  Snape apparated into Hogsmeade and began to walk towards Hogwarts castle.

The castle was deserted save for the few teachers that had come in early to get their classroom set up and lesson plans done before the semester started.  Snape had no problems getting in or finding his way to Dumbledore's office.  He spoke the password (Blood Pops) and entered.

"Ah, Severus.  I was waiting for you to come and see me.  I heard about the raid on Azkaban."

Snape took a seat.  "Yes, it went as expected.  The Dementors joined Voldemort's forces.  The prisoners that were Death Eaters rejoined the ranks.  The others joined or were done away with."

"I thought as much.  You didn't come just to tell me that did you?"

"No.  One of the prisoners escaped.  I saved her.  I told the rest of the Death Eaters that she had killed herself."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully.  "Do you know who she is?"

"No, she does not remember her own name.  She only remembers that she was locked into Azkaban for murdering a handful of people."

"Did she say how long ago she was locked away?"

Snape thought back for a moment.  "I believe she said something about sixteen years."

Dumbledore levitated a thick book from one of the many shelves.  "Can you give me a description of what she looks like?"

"Short, maybe five feet tall, blonde hair, dark eyes, she was Silenced before she was imprisoned, I don't know much else about her."

"That will do."  Dumbledore pointed his wand at the thick book.  It flipped open, pages turning, until it stopped somewhere near the last third of the book.  He scrolled down the page.  "Age: eighteen, height: five foot, hair color: blond, eyes: dark brown, Silenced after the trial.  This is rather interesting.  It doesn't say why she was Silenced.  It does not give a name either, only a number.  I think you have found yourself a quite a mystery, Severus."

"I believe that I have.  I wanted to ask you what I should do with her."

"Yes, that could pose a difficult problem, couldn't it?  You cannot let her go since the Death Eaters think that she is dead.  You might be caught for lying and be killed if they find her.  I suggest that you let me meet her before anything else is decided.  I might be able to find something about her."

"Thank you, sir."

"You're quite welcome, my dear boy.  After all the help you have given us and all the times you have risked your life, I owe you something.  Bring her in as soon as she wakes up."

"Yes, sir, I will do so."

"You should get home now.  We don't need her escaping again."

"Thank you."  Snape left the office with a flurry of his black robes.

Dumbledore stared after him.  There was good in him, no matter what other people thought.

Snape returned to find the girl asleep on the floor of the living room in the same clothes that she had been wearing before.  She snapped awake at the sound of his footsteps.  "Oh, it's you."

"Are you awake?"

"Yes, sort of.  I couldn't get used to sleep in a bed, so I decided to sleep on the floor down here."

"Professor Dumbledore wants to talk with you when you are awake."

She nodded from her position on the floor.  "I remember a Dumbledore, I think."  She stood up, slightly rumpled, but none worse for the wear.  "Take me to him."

Snape looked her over with a critical eye.  "You can't go like that.  It's too conspicuous if you are going out into the world."

"What do you mean?"

"You are wearing Muggle clothing going into the wizarding world."

"Oh."

"You need a robe," he looked down at her bare feet.  "And shoes.  Go upstairs to where you found what you are wearing now.  There should some things up there."

She ran up the stairs, returning a few moments later with a dark navy robe and a pair of worn brown sandals.  The robe was pulled over the clothing that she had been wearing before.  "Better?"

"Yes, much."

Snape held out his hand toward her.  She grasped it cautiously.  Together they apparated into Hogsmeade.

"I remember this place," the woman whispered softly as Snape led her down the well used path to Hogwarts.  She gasped at the sight of the gigantic structure as they rounded a corner.

"Welcome to Hogwarts."  Snape set a quick pace up to the castle and inside.  He led her around corners and stopped in front of the gargoyle.  For the second time that day, he spoke the password and went up the stairs to Dumbledore's office.

"Back already, Severus?" Dumbledore asked politely, more interested in the woman that trailed behind Snape than in the Potions Master.  "Do sit down, both of you."

Snape sat in the same chair that he had vacated only a few hours ago.  His charge sat nearby.

Dumbledore looked over the small built woman.  She seemed vaguely familiar, like he should know her.  She was probably a student at Hogwarts once.  "I am Professor Dumbledore, Head Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."  He gave her his hand to shake.  For a small person, she had a strong grip.

"Hello," she blinked a couple of time.  "I think I remember you."

Dumbledore smiled warmly.  "Severus explained to me about your conundrums.  I believe that I may be of some assistance."

"If you could do anything, I would be extremely grateful."

"I would like to try a memory charm on you first."

"Fine, go ahead."  She seemed to trust the Head Master more than she had trusted Snape.

Dumbledore waved him wand at her, speaking the words of the spell.  "Can you remember your name now?"

The woman closed her eyes, racking her brain for the information.  "No.  I don't remember it."

"Then let us try a stronger one, shall we?  Severus, I would like you to cast the same spell at her when I do."

Both wizards spoke the spell together, wands toward her.  "Try it now."

She tried again with the same results.

"Hmmm…  Interesting.  If anything, I would say that someone cursed you to forget about something that they did not want remembered."

"How did you figure that out, sir?"

"Quite simply, my dear.  The two spells that we tried on you would have cured any person of amnesia, so that they would remember any thing of their past.  They did not affect you, so there has to be other forces at work.  The only other force that could control a person's memory lose would be a strong curse."

"That might make sense."

"It makes more sense than you think.  In the log of all the prisoners that had been imprisoned in Azkaban, there is one matching your physical description that was locked away sixteen years ago, as Severus said that you had been.  There was no name attached to the file, only a number and it stated that you had been Silenced.  Obviously, Severus took the care of removing the silencing spell, which is simple to remove if one knows how to do it.  The file did not state why you were Silenced.  I have a feeling that someone set you up."

She looked at the Head Master with wide eyes.  "Are you sure?"

"I am almost certain.  Can you tell me what things you do remember?"

Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.  "I remembered how to play the piano.  I remembered Hogsmeade and Hogwarts and you, professor."  She paused, faltering.  "I remember the murders that sent me into Azkaban.  I don't know what else, other than a vague recollection of a quarter staff and fighting."

"So you must have attended this school.  Do you remember which house you were in?"

"No."

"That we can find out quite easily," Dumbledore stood up and pulled a worn hat that seemed to be one its last legs of life off the shelf.  "This is the Sorting Hat.  We use it to sort people into the four houses.  It should remember you."  The hat was placed gently on her head.

"Now what have we here?  You are not a student.  You are too old for that," the hat spoke to her in her mind.

"Professor Dumbledore said that you might remember which house I was sorted into when I attended this school."

"He did.  Yes, then let us see.  Hmmm…  Do you know when were you were sorted?  It would make everything easier."

"I was eighteen sixteen years ago, which would make it about twenty three years ago."

"That will do.  Interesting mind that you have there.  There is intelligence, honesty, ambition, loyalty, bravery you could have gone into any of the houses.  I do not believe that you would have done well in Hufflepuff, so you could not have been there.  There is some ambition, but not enough to place you in Slytherin.  That would leave Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.  Since bravery seems to rise over intelligence, though they are almost equally matched, I would have to place you in GRYFFINDOR!"  The hat shouted the last word.

She took off the hat, handing it back to Dumbledore.  He looked bemused at what the hat had said.  Snape wore a similar expression.  "Is that a good thing or a bad thing that I was a Gryffindor?"

"You are fine, my dear.  That should help us greatly.  We just need to find a list of the Gryffindors that graduated sixteen years ago.  Dumbledore pointed his wand at a large tome on another shelf.  The book landed on his desk with a small thud.  "Now let us see here."  He thumbed through the pages, stopping on a section and reading it.  "Hmmm…  There seems to be a page missing where the Gryffindors from your year should be."  He fingered the ripped edge carefully.  "Someone is definitely against you, my dear.  I have a feeling that you were not put into Azkaban for the murders that you remember."

{Author's Note:  That was interesting, to say the least considering most of it was written after being sleep deprived from play practice, performances, and cast parties that lasted until two in the morning.  So if there are random tangents or things that no one else understands, I apologize.  Thank you to the two people that did review the first chapter.

Anna Black:  Thanks for thinking that this is "cool."  I did not know that the priest in CoMC was the same actor that played Dumbledore.  I just saw the movie because there were sword fights in it.

Jackie: You and your dancing pirates are welcome.

Okay.  Eso es Eso.  That's it.  We are done blabbering for now.  Oh, and I finally purchased the Sorcerer's Stone soundtrack.  It's awesome.  John Williams is God-Like!  (For more reasons than one, he is God-Like.  That is another story.  I think I scared some people when I proclaimed that while doing their stage make-up for the musical.)

Thanks and read and review my other stories as well as this one while you are at it, The One and Only Nataly Ravenlock}


	3. Mysterious Ways

{Disclaimer:  J.K. Rowlings owns the Harry Potter World.  I only own the characters that are figments of my twisted imagination.}

{Author's Note:   The point of view in this chapter is from the prisoner. Her chapters are first person perspective, all the others are third person.  I hope that makes things less confusing.}

**Chapter 3**

**Mysterious Ways**

_*** The naming of cats is a difficult matter/ It isn't just one of your holiday games/ You may think at first, I'm as mad as a hatter/ When I tell you a cat must have three different names…… But above and beyond there's still one name left over/ And that is the name that you never will guess/ the name that no human research can discover/ And the cat himself knows and will never confess.  "The Naming of Cats" Andrew Lloyd Weber ***_

            I didn't know what to say.  It had never occurred to me that I had never murdered the people that haunted my dreams.  I had never thought that I had been set up and imprisoned for no reason save who knows what.  "Do you really think so, sir?"  I asked quietly.

            "It may be so.  Now I would like to speak with Professor Snape in private.  Would you mind leaving us for a while?"

            "No not at all.  Is the library open?"

            "It should be.  Do remember where it is?"

            "I can find it, sir.  Thank you."  I left out of the door that we had come in through.  The library…  I thought for a moment, trying to remember the layout of the school.  It seemed to be one of the things that I could remember.  The library, from where I was standing would be a few corridors to the left and down a few staircases.

            Luckily I was correct, for once and ended up in front of the giant carved doors that led to the stacks of books.  I entered cautiously, making sure that no one was there.  It was empty.  I started down the closest row of shelves, running my fingers over the bindings.  Some of the titles brought back memories, like Hogwarts, a History or 1001 Magical Herbs and Fungi or so many others with similar titles.  On a whim, I pulled out a random book and started to read, not looking at the title.  It was something about potions.  I flipped through a few pages.  I remembered some of the mixtures that were being made.

            _A young girl dressed in black robes stood behind a table, vial in one hand, measuring cup in the other.  Her lower lip was being chewed on as she poured them deftly into a simmering cauldron.  It steamed and bubbled ferociously before turning a shade of clear blue._

_            "Well done.  Full marks."  A man, face nameless to her memory, congratulated the girl with a pat on the shoulders.  She turned and grinned up at him._

_            "Thanks, Professor."_

_            "You are most welcome.  I would not have expected anything less than perfection from you."_

_            The scene changed to a dimly lit room.  It might have been a laboratory of some sort belonging to a mad scientist.  The same girl, a few years older now, stood hunched over a table, writing swiftly across a piece of parchment.  She finished what she was putting to paper and stood up.  Nearby was a boiling cauldron.  From a shelf, she pulled a vial of red liquid and added it slowly to the frothing mixture.  It changed to a shade of medium green, like the color of midsummer's trees.  "I've done it!  It finally worked!"_

            It faded back to library where I stood alone.  I shook my head, clearing away the few seconds of what I had seen.  What had it been?  I looked down at the book I held in my hands and carefully placed it back where I had taken it from.  I wandered down the row and into the next, glancing over titles, seeing if any sparked interest in my dormant memories.  None did or at least none that I could tell.  I picked another book, this time a thicker one.  Famous Witches and Wizards in the Twentieth Century.  I flipped through it.  Some of the pictures of the wizards that were there were recognized, others were as unfamiliar as they ever would be.  Nothing interesting that I could see.  I put it back and pulled out the nearest one.  I flipped through it and began to read.

I had read about a quarter of the way through the novel when I felt something on my shoulder.  Without thinking, I dropped the book.  The hand on my shoulder was grabbed tightly.  I bent down on my knee, grabbing who ever it was by the robes and flipping him over my shoulder on to the ground.  My voice turned low and threatening as my eyes widened.  "I told you everything, damn it!  What else do you want from me?  There is nothing else."

I didn't know where that came from.  The voice and comments escaped me before I knew what I was saying.  I then realized who I had thrown to the ground and was currently pinning there.  "Oh, shit.  I'm so sorry!  I didn't mean that.  Really, I didn't!"  I helped him up roughly, shaking.

"Damn pit bull," Snape muttered as he stood up, dusting off his robe.  He rotated his shoulder a bit, getting the kinks out of it.  "What the hell was that for?"

I looked at him with wide eyes, terrified.  "I don't know.  It just happened.  You surprised me."

He shook his head.  "Pit bull."

"What?"

"I said pit bull, as in the little Muggle guard dogs that bite first and ask questions later and tend to attack without being provoked."

"Oh.  I think that's an apt description."  I bent to pick up the book that I had been reading.

"Did you find anything interesting?"

I nodded.  "I found a book about the history of the Dark Arts."  I held out the book towards him.

"And you understand this?"

"Yes, it's not that hard to.  Why?  You didn't expect me to?"

"Read the title for me."

I looked at the cover.  "Los Artes Oscuros: La Hístoria.  Oh."

"Exactly.  And you understand the language this is in?"

"Yes.  I think it's Spanish, actually.  It makes perfect sense to me."  I flipped the book open to the introduction.  "Los Artes Oscuros tienen unas de las hístorias más interesantes en el mundo mágico."  I nodded.  "It makes perfect sense.  The Dark Arts have one of the most interesting histories in the magic world."

Snape gave me of the looks that he was famous for.  "You understand how to read and speak Spanish, yet you don't remember your own name."

I shrugged and put the book back.  "Well?"

"Dumbledore wanted to speak with you before we leave."

"Lead on."  I followed Snape back through the winding hallways and corridors, through the gargoyle, and back to Dumbledore's office.

"Ah, yes.  Did you find anything interesting in our library?"

"Actually, I did, sir.  I found a book on the history of the Dark Arts that was completely in Spanish."

"You comprehended what it said?"

"Yes, sir, I did."

"Well done," Dumbledore nodded in satisfaction.  "So it seems that you remember mostly everything save your personal life."

"I believe so, sir.  I can remember Spanish, and how to play the piano, yet I don't remember my name or who I was, so yes, exactly so."

"We have decided to let you stay here once the school year begins."

"Thank you, sir."

"But there are a few other things we need to discuss."

"Like what, sir?"

"For a beginning, you need a name, and if you are to stay here, you will need a job.  Unfortunately for you, all the major teaching positions are filled, unless you want to be an assistant professor."

"In what subject, sir?  I'm not sure what I remember."

Dumbledore looked past her at Snape, who imperceptibly nodded.  "I believe that Professor Snape would be willing take you on, if you remember what you are doing in potions."

"I can try, sir.  Test me on them to see what I know.  I know that I would like to see what I know, sir."  I looked at him, eyes wide and bright.

"Very well, then.  That is decided.  Severus, would you like to test her now or later?"

"There is time today to get most of the major testing done."

"Go ahead with it, then.  Report back to me when you are finished."

"Yes, sir," I told him with a slight grin.  I hoped I remembered something about mixing together the odds and ends of potions.

"Come along, Pit bull," Snape whispered to me and he turned out the door.  I had not choice, but to follow.

Dumbledore smiled slightly to himself.  He had a feeling that neither of them knew what they were reaching into.  Snape obviously liked the woman, not as like-like, but more as respect.  It was odd enough to him that Snape had taken her in.  It had been more ironic that the Sorting Hat had decided that she had been a Gryffindor, the house that Snape held a grudge against.  And yet he had heard Snape call her "Pit bull" as they had walked out of the room.  Dumbledore wondered where the name had come from, but it was the start of a name for the one who had lost her own.

The dungeons were dark, dreary, and cold, reminding me of Azkaban but without the deep bone chilling dread that attached itself to the prison.  Snape picked a door at seemingly at random from the barred entrances that decorated the corridor.

"This is one of my private laboratories.  We will work in here for today to see if you know what you are doing."  He entered in a swirl of black.  Why did he always have to be so dramatic?

I gulped and went into the room.  Snape was standing by a neatly ordered shelf, searching for a book.  He pulled a rather dusty one of the shelf.  "The Intermediate Mastery Guide to Potion Making.  Some of these are rather complex, but instead of making you go through the basics, I want to see what you can do."

I was going to dive head first into something I had no clue about.  Great, I thought to myself.  I'll probably drown in the process.  I took the book and flipped through it.  "Which one am I going to have to make?"  I asked rather hesitantly.  Snape grabbed the book back and turned it to a page.

"This one.  It is a rather interesting potion that is used for healing, if you are up to it."

He was going to challenge me, was he?  We would see about that.  "I'm up to it."  He handed me back the book.  The list of ingredients was long and I did not recognize a few of them.  I decided to wing it.

"All the ingredients are on that table, along with everything you might need.  I will be timing you.  The timer starts now."

I was not going to rush.  Speed was no reason to screw this thing up.  I approached the table; book in hand like a safeguard.  All the ingredients were there, thankfully.  I found what I needed, even the ones that I had no idea of what they were.  They were deposited on the table with my cauldron.  I looked at the first ingredient.  It was a powered herb of some sort.  I measured it out, carefully pouring it into the cauldron heating over the flames.  I added the next ingredients, following the directions exactly.  I minced the ginger root, crushed the Balmony leaves with the mortar and pestle, and chopped things that I did not know of and would not have known save that they had been labeled.  I added them at the right times and waited.  The potion was a shade of deep plum.  It wasn't supposed to be a shade of deep plum.  That wasn't good.  I stared at it, deciding where I had gone wrong.  It slowly faded to a cobalt color.  That was the color it needed to be.  I sighed.  I could feel my hands shaking in nervousness.  I would go through with this.  I would get it done with and do it correctly.  There were only two ingredients left to prepare and add: a hair from a unicorn's tail and a piece of a unicorn's horn (powdered), both known for healing properties.  I dropped the hair into the mixture, hoping for the best.  It sizzled and fizzed as the hair dissolved, sending swirls of a metallic white into the blue.  I waited until the swirling stopped to add the powdered horn.  The sapphire shade lightened slightly, which was good.  I had to let it simmer for two minutes for it to be completed.

The two minutes felt like two years as I watched the clock with an almost paranoid frenzy.  It seemed to slow down, telling me that I would never be done.  I would never be done.  

_The girl wore a white lab coat, like a Muggle scientist, which she was often teased about.  She took it with good humor, liking the coat she wore.  It made her feel special and held memories of when she had attended a Muggle school for a year, just for the fun of.  She dipped a vial in a vat of green potion, holding it up to a candle light.  Emerald flickers danced on the brick walls around her.  "I did it," she spoke softly so that only she could here it.  "I did it and they shall never know."  She looked around the room to see if anyone was watching.  The vial was placed a rack with a few others of the same making.  Pulling a wand from her pocket she spoke the words of a spell and pointed her wand at a piece of paper written in a loose scrawling script.  The words disappeared.  "There.  It is complete.  They will never know my secret.  Only I know and I will never tell."_

The clock struck the two minute mark.  I turned off the flame and removed my cauldron.  Snape had been leaning against the wall watching me like a hawk, waiting for me to do something wrong.  "Done."  It was the first word I had spoke in the entire two hours that I had been working.  I handed the cauldron over to Snape.  He looked at like it was a four day old road-kill opossum.  To say that he did not look happy was an understatement.  He poured a small measure of it into a vial.

"You better hope this works, Pit bull."  He pulled a knife from a side cabinet.  "Give me your arm.  I am going to make a small cut on it.  You will then drink the potion.  If it heals, you pass.  If it doesn't, well, you know what will happen."

I glared.  I extended my left arm out in front of me, forearm upward and bare.  He dragged the sharp blade across it, leaving a trail of blood.  I took the potion silently and waited.  Would it work?  Would I be an utter failure?  Worse yet had I been an utter failure before?

I watched as the gash on my arm closed, leaving only traces of blood on the surface.  Snape, for only a moment, looked dumbfounded.

"Very well, Pit bull.  Come along.  We will have to report this to Professor Dumbledore." He glowered at me.  What had I ever done to him?

There was some else in Dumbledore's office we finally got back up there.  "It went well as expected.  He should be back any time, definitely before the semester starts up again."  Who ever had been reporting back to Dumbledore was cut off by Snape's knock at the door.

"Come in, Severus.  We were just finishing up."

Snape stormed into the office with me trailing behind.  He stiffened when he saw the other person in the room.  The man had the same reaction.  His eyes widened as they noticed me there as well.  He looked as if he would run.  His face was vaguely familiar.

"Don't worry, Sirius.  She wouldn't tell anyone."

I spoke up.  "I know you.  You were in the cell across from mine.  You escaped by transforming into a dog.  I watched the whole thing."

Sirius looked shocked.  "You came from Azkaban?"

I nodded.  "Yes, I did.  The Death Eaters broke in and let all the prisoners loose into the Dark Lord's clutches.  I escaped with the help of Severus."

Sirius gave me a half smile.  "Welcome back to the real world."

"Thank you."

Snape turned to Dumbledore as Sirius and I talked.  He pulled another vial of the potion I had brewed from his robes.  "She brewed this."

Dumbledore took it and held it up to the light.  "Healing potion, one of the more advanced ones if I am correct.  Perfect color."  He opened up the vial and wafted the scent of it.  "Smells correctly.  You tested it, I assume?"

"Yes.  It works well."

"I would say that you have yourself a competent assistant."

I listened to what was said with one ear and to Sirius with the other.  I looked at Dumbledore briefly.  He beckoned me to come over.  "You have passed Professor Snape's testing on potions competency.  I believe that qualifies for you for the position we discussed earlier.  Do you accept?"

"Yes, I do, sir."

Dumbledore pulled a roll of parchment from his desk.  "This is a contract binding you for teaching here at Hogwarts for one year.  Please read it and sign at the bottom."

I read over the criteria.  I gaped at the sum I was to be paid.  "Is this how much teaching staff here always gets paid?"

"Your salary is slightly less, but yes.  Good teachers are difficult to find."

I poised the pen that he had given me over the line to sign the contract and paused.  "Sir, what do I sign it as?"

Dumbledore peered at me over his half moon spectacles.  "Yes, you do need a name.  Any ideas of what you would like to be called?"

I thought for a moment, chewing on my lower lip.  "Esperenza."

"Hmmm?"

"Esperenza, it's Spanish.  It comes from the verb esperar, which means to wait or to hope."

"Interesting, but you don't look like you are of Spanish origins."

"Then call me Peri for short."

"Fine, that would work.  You only need a last name now."

"I don't know, sir.  I don't remember much about last names.  Do you have any ideas?"

Dumbledore looked at her closely.  "You remind me of a wild animal, ready to spring.  I suppose it has to do with having been a prisoner for so long.  You also have shown intelligence with how you have performed and how you escaped.  Therefore, we shall call you Lynx, for your small size, yet the ability to think on your feet like a wild cat."

"Pitbull would be more appropriate," Snape snapped.

"Severus, Pitbull would not make a good last name, only a nick name."

Snape continued his glaring at Sirius.

"Then Lynx it is."  I signed the contract 'Esperenza Lynx.'  "Here you go, sir.  Thank you muchly."

"You are most welcome, Peri, if I may call you that."

"Certainly, sir.  That's my name now."

"Yes, it is.  Many an hour seems to have passed since you came to me the first time.  I believe it would easier if all of you stayed here the night and left in the morning.  Severus, I have instructed the house elves to refurnish the other room connected to the potions dungeons.  That is to be Peri's room."

"Yes, sir."  He turned in the usual flourish and left the room.

"Good night, Professor, Sirius.  Thank you."  I retraced my steps to the potions dungeon.  Snape was standing by another doorway.  He opened it for me.

"This is your room.  Good night."  He left me standing alone.

The room was well lit by candles.  The bed was done in burgundy and purple.  The floors were covered with a dark blue carpet.  A fire had been lit in the stone fireplace.  On the walls two portraits hung: one of a dragon and the other of a lynx.  Obviously the house elves had been listening and heard my new last name.  I pulled off my sandals, robe, and khakis that I still had on underneath.  I slipped under the warm covers after blowing out the candles.

So much had happened in a day.  I had escaped.  I had been rescued and a new life was beginning.  I had a job as a potions assistant and a place to live.  On top of it all I had a name.  Esperenza.  To hope or to wait.  Both suited me.  I could only hope that I would remember who I was and I would wait until I did.  Snape insisted on calling me 'Pitbull,' after a vicious little dog, which was better than something.  I went to sleep for the first time with a smile on my face.

{Author's Note:  It's done!  As usual, this would have been done sooner.  Also as usual, I had other things do, such as writing a science fiction story with a totalitarian government that used technology to promote propaganda for my European History class.  The story to say the least was only 30 pages double spaced, but after having my dad proof read it, it had to be almost completely rewritten.  So having written that much of the project, this tale stopped for a while.  Balmony, the herb I mentioned in the potion that I created, is used as an internal remedy to purge and cleanse.  It seemed appropriate.  Anyway, thanks to the following person for reviewing my fic:

Bluemoon:  Thank you for not skipping over my story.  I really appreciate that at least someone that I don't know has taken the time to read it.

That's everything until the next chapter.  Thanks and read my other fics while you are at it.  I want opinions on those ones too!  May The Force Be With You, Nataly Ravenlock}


	4. The Start of a New Time

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling.  I own only the characters that I created and the plot.}

{Author's Note:  We got this far without him, but it wouldn't be a Harry Potter fan fic without Harry Potter.}

**Chapter 4**

**The Start of a New Time**

_**How long must this go on?/ The cruel trick of fate/ I simply made one careless, wrong decision/ And then that witch is gone/ And left me in this state/ An object of revulsion and derision/ Hatred/ Is there no one?/ Who can show me/ How to win the world's forgiveness?  "How Long Must This Go On?" Beauty and the Beast**_

            Snape stalked the hallways, going no where particular, and looking quite menacing.  He was in a bad mood.  Things had gone from bad to worse.  First, yesterday, the Death Eater, including himself, had taken over Azkaban.  He had rescued a convicted murder with no memories save for a few random things.  To make things worse, the girl turned out to once have been a Gryffindor.  Snape hated Gryffindors; they were all obstinate mules.  Of course, Dumbledore had let the girl stay at Hogwarts and become his assistant.  Snape had never needed an assistant before, but Dumbledore had convinced him to keep her.  Dumbledore had mentioned that Snape would be sent on some missions concerning the activities of the Death Eaters and having someone readily available to take over the teaching of his classes would be a good thing.  Reluctantly, Snape had agreed.

            He had given the girl a test to see if she knew what she had been doing.  He watched her carefully from the shadows in one of his laboratories.  She was efficient and knew what she was doing.  The complex healing potion had turned out close to perfect, as well as he could have done.  Snape had never expected this to happen.  Only a few people that he knew of could brew this potion.  He would never tell her that of course.  He wondered who she was.

            Dumbledore had looked her up in the past lists of all the students that attended Hogwarts.  She hadn't been there; the page in which she should have been on was gone.  There were no records of her name in Azkaban or any of the record books that Azkaban kept of all their prisoners.  She was only named by a number.

            Snape had named her alright.  He called her Pit bull because she had attacked him twice within the time that he had known her.  She had taken out a good handful of Death Eaters armed with only a spear and no magic.  She was like an attack dog ready to strike at anything unknown.  He found the name quite appropriate.

            Dumbledore had let her choose her own name since she could not remember what she had been called before.  It would have made everything much easier if she had remembered who she was.  She had given herself the name of Esperenza 'Peri' Lynx.  Lynx was just as appropriate as Pit bull.  She was just as wild and untamed as the forest cat.

            Snape was still in a bad mood, though he never usually was in a good mood either, so the mood was typical.  The other teachers that were there ignored him and gave him a wide berth in the corridors.  They knew never to mess with him when he was in a mood like this.

            The semester would begin in two days time.  All the professors where already there, working on lesson plans and making certain that they had the materials that they needed.  Professor Lupin had returned again to instruct the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, bring with him a large black dog who was affectionately name Snuffles.  Few knew what the dog actually was, but most believed that he was just Lupin's new domestic companion.

            Snape rounded a corner and promptly collided with someone.  "Watch where you're going!"  He looked down at the person and glared.  After less than a moment he recognized who it was.  "Pit bull.  What the hell happened to you?"

            She grinned slightly.  "Professor Dumbledore decided that the Death Eaters might recognize who I am so he changed my appearance."

            Her appearance had changed.  The blond hair had been darkened to a raven color.  Her skin became a darker olive tan instead of the sun deprived pale white.  She seemed younger, but looked more like her Spanish name.

            "What else did he do to you?"

            "He made me about ten years younger, so that I would look more the age of starting a teaching position."

            Snape simply stared.  She looked nothing like she had when he first had found her.  Underneath, he decided, she still had the mentality of a pit bull.

            "Now, if you would please excuse me, I need to go to Diagon Alley to pick up a few things that I will be needing.  Professor Dumbledore was kind enough to forward me my first paycheck."

            Snape stepped aside and gestured for her to pass.  He watched her walk down the hall, head held high.  This was going to be an interesting year.

(Changing perspectives…)

            I arrived at Diagon Alley by Floo powder.  It was an experience that I never wanted to do again, even though I knew that would have to.  I stepped away from the public fireplace and pulled out the list of things I would need.  Robes were a must; I would need to be clothed in something and Dumbledore had told me that Muggle clothing would not be a good thing to wear in the wizarding world.  I still wore the navy colored robes that Snape had lent me yesterday along with the sandals, which he said I could keep.  I would most definitely need a wand.  Mine had been broken by the guards at Azkaban and burned.  Snape had all the potions ingredients, though I would need some quills, ink, and parchment.

            I decided that the first stop would be at Gringotts.  Dumbledore had given me a key to a vault that would now be mine.  I walked inside, tense and waiting for someone to come and capture me.  No one did.  I silently handed my key to a goblin at a desk.  He called over another one of his kind, giving the key to him.  I followed him to what looked like a specialized mine cart.  We entered the cart.  The goblin pulled down on the lever in the front.  Creaking, the cart sped forward into the gloom underneath the city.  The cart flew turning left, right, left again, flipping upside down.  '_Gee, they could make an amusement park ride out of this,' I thought grimly to myself.  It stopped suddenly in front of a vault labeled with the same number as on my key.  The goblin opened it up.  Upon the floor was a meager pile of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts.  I shoveled some of them into the bag that I was carrying.  I would leave a bit incase they were needed at a later time.  The trip back was just as full of twists and turns.  I left Gringotts, money in hand, blinking owlishly at the sunlight._

            My first stop would be for a new wand.  Ollivanders was nearby.  A couple was waiting inside for their son to get his first wand.  I watched them from the doorway and waited for my turn.  The boy's wand was chosen and paid for.  The family left, leaving me alone with Mr. Ollivander.

            "May I help you?" Mr. Ollivander's voice was soft and silvery.

            "I need a wand."

            "Then you have come to the right place.  Which is your wand arm?"

"My left."

A silver measuring tape began to measure my arms, legs, and everything in between.  "That's enough."  The measuring tape dropped to a pile on the floor at Mr. Ollivander's command.  He pulled out a box from one of the many over piled shelves.  "Try this one.  Holly, 10 ½ inches, with a unicorn hair."

I waved the wand around, feeling foolish.  Nothing happened.  The wand was snatched back only to be replaced by another.  "Willow, 9 inches, with the tail feather of a phoenix."

That one had the same results as the one before.  A third wand was placed in my hand.  A multicolored array of sparks flew out of the tip.  "Hmmm.  Maple, 13 ½ inches, with a dragon's heartstring.  Good for defense work."

I paid the seven Galleons for the wand and left the shop.  That man was strange.  I entered Madame Malkin's robe shop.  A good sized crowd of people were herded inside, all wanting robes for the Hogwarts upcoming semester.  There were too many people in there for my liking, but I would be patient and wait for my time.  I picked up some of what the people were saying.

"We still need to buy books and potions ingredients, you know."

"I know.  I need to get new robes.  Mine are getting worn out.  Plus, Ron needs the dress robes," the speaker gestured to a tall red head trying on a set of deep blue gray dress robes.

"Those are nice, Ron.  Why don't you get them?"

"I probably will.  After all, the note said to get new dress robes with the money."

The three that had been talking left after paying for the dress robes and the bundle of black work robes that the other boy had been carrying.  I was next.  I bought set of everyday work robes and a nice dark plum set of dress robes for just in case.  That had been what I had come for: clothes and a wand.

I walked back out into the bright sun.  There were so many more places that I could visit.  I decided on the second hand thrift store.  From what I could see through the windows everything inside looked worn, yet interesting to say the least.  I opened the door.  A tiny bell rang announcing my presence to the shop keeper.  Everything imaginable had found its way into the shop.  There were shelves of jewelry, tea sets, old robes, a good collection of used books, and some dented cauldrons that hung down from the ceiling.  I wandered around the dusty shop simply looking and absorbing everything that I saw.  I stopped to look at the books.  Many were old and had collected the dust of the ages.  Some of the pages where yellowed and titles faded.  I looked through them, finding nothing that sparked my interest.  Next to the books was a lighted shelf that held a collection of bracelets, necklaces, anklets, rings, pins, and hair clips.  Randomly I picked up a ring just to look at it.

"Ah, you have a good eye.  That ring originated from a Rom gypsy tribe that resided in Germany a long time ago.  We received from a prisoner that was locked away many years ago.  It is supposed to protect its wearer from evil."  The shop keeper was standing behind me, looking over my shoulder.  He was a tall man with a sharply pointed nose and a pair of spectacles that kept sliding down his large beak-like protrusion.

I looked over the ring.  It was a simple band of silver with three raised circles that split it into thirds.  Two of the sections bore a design of a larger circle in the middle with a dot inside it and two dots on either side of the circle.  The third side bore the same design, but more things were added to it.  A small dot was to the left and slightly up from the outside dot.  On the other side, connected to the edge of the larger circle was a small circle enclosed in a diamond pointing to the northeast.  The letters DOL were inscribed on the right.  I found it rather interesting, familiar, like it belonged to me.  "I'll take it."

The shop keeper deftly removed the ring from its chain.  He brought it up to the front desk, where it was paid for.  I slipped it on to my right middle finger.  It fit perfectly there.  I turned to leave and was almost tripped by a furry beast that had entwined itself between my legs.  "Hello there, cat."

The cat looked up at me and purred loudly.

"You found her.  I was wondering where she had run off to.  That cat is more trouble that she's worth.  She's yours if you want her.  We've been trying to get rid of her for about a year now," the shopkeeper peered over the counter at the cat, who had flipped over to have her stomach rubbed.

"I'll take her.  She seems to like me well enough."  Like might have been too weak a word considering that cat was ecstatically purring as I rubbed her stomach.  I stopped.  "Come along, cat.  You're mine, now."  Surprisingly, the cat stood up and started to follow.  The shop keeper watched us leave, happy to be rid of his irksome beast.

I looked down at the cat.  It was a small fluffy calico colored beast that did not look like she could hurt a flea.  She cocked her head up at me to give a questioning squeak.  "Alright, cat.  You need a name.  We shall call you," I paused to think.  "Wyvern, just because you remind of a little, troublesome dragon."

Wyvern started purring again.  "I guess that's fine with you.  I suppose we ought to be getting back to Hogwarts.  Come here."  I picked up the little beast and put her on my shoulder.  There was an empty fireplace that could be used for transportation.  I tossed a handful of Floo powder into it and jumped in, holding my packages tight.  We arrived by at Hogwarts in the fireplace in my room.  I set Wyvern on the floor with the rest of the bundles.  "Okay, cat, this is your new home."  Wyvern promptly leapt gracefully onto a burgundy colored chair, curled up, and went to sleep.  I shook my head at her.  Cats…

My robes were folded and placed in a chest at the end of the bed.  The wand I took out of its box.  It was beautiful.  I had no recollection what my wand had looked like before when I had had one.  This one shone a warm honey yellow in the flickering flames of the fireplace.  I waved it around experimentally.  I would have to find a book of spells to refresh my memory.  There would be plenty of those in the library.  "Be good, Wyvern.  I don't want the room destroyed when I return."  The cat made no movements to show that I had been heard.

The library was still empty.  Obviously, the librarian wouldn't enforce her usual strictness until the students arrived.  I found a few book are rudimentary level spells and started reading them.  Some of the spells I remembered, others I had never heard of before.  I had gone through two and a half book when I felt a tug at my sleeve.  There was a small creature with large pointed ears and saucer eyes, wearing a towel and a tea cozy as a hat sitting on the table by my left elbow.

I blinked a few times to bring my eyes back into focus.  "What the heck are you?"

"I is a house elf, miss," the creature squeaked in a high pitched voice.

I thought for a moment as to what a house elf was.  "House elf?  House elf?  Oh!  House elf.  I'm sorry; I was concentrating on the books.  What are you called?"

"I is called Nolly, miss."

"And why are you here?"

"Professor Dumbledore sent I to finds you.  He be wanting to talk with you, miss."

"Oh.  Fine.  Tell him that I will be right there."

"Yes, miss.  I is going right away."  The house elf disappeared.

I sighed.  I put the book back where I had found them.  They would be finished later.  I found Dumbledore's office and recalled the password (Blood Pops) from when Snape had spoken it before.  The gargoyle leapt aside to let me pass.

"Ah, yes, Peri.  The house elf gave you my message, I presume?"

"Yes, sir, she did.  What did you want to see me about, sir?"

"There are a few matters pertaining to Professor Snape that I would like you to be aware of.  Firstly, I believe that you know he is a Death Eater, correct?"

"Yes, I do know that.  I also figured out that he is not completely loyal to the Dark Lord and works on both sides."

"Very nice inference.  You are correct in that matter.  Now, Severus does work as a double agent to give me along with the rest of our side information of what the Death Eaters are doing.  I am afraid that he will be taking a few weeks leave just as this semester begins.  He will be here for the first day of classes, but after that he will be gone until Halloween.  Do you think you can handle his classes?"

I knotted my eyebrows doubtfully.  "I think I should be able to, as long he gives me a lesson plan as to what I'm supposed to teach."

"Then it is settled.  You shall have your lesson plans and he will have a replacement professor.  Now to more current matters."

"Which current matter would that be, sir?"

"It is time that we quench our hunger with victuals."

"Dinner?" I asked.  I hadn't realized how hungry I was until he had said something about food.  I hadn't eaten much, save for a light breakfast early this morning and a mug of tea.

"Yes.  I will be down shortly.  You go on ahead.  You do remember where the Great Hall is, correct?"

"I can find it, sir.  Thank you."  I left.  Food sounded like a very good idea.  I would have to learn to remind myself to eat once in a while.  I knew that if I didn't, I would tend to forget.

The other professors were all seated on the high table.  There were two empty seats, one obviously for Dumbledore and the other probably for me.  I sat down between Snape and a shabbily dressed, gray haired wizard that I did not recognize.  Professor Dumbledore entered a few moments later.

"Good evening.  I hope none of you had problems arriving today.  Before we begin, I would like to welcome Esperenza Lynx, who will be joining us as an Assistant Potions Master this year."

All of the professors glanced over in my direction just to see who I was.  I smiled politely.

"Now, on with the meal."  Food appeared on the table by magic.  The food looked wonderful.  I tasted most of the dishes that were there.  Some were better than others, but all of them superbly prepared.  I could get used to this.

"So where are you from?" the man sitting next to me asked.

I thought for a moment.  Did I know where I was from?  I said the first thing that came to my mind.  "Sevilla."

"Where's that?"

"Oh, sorry.  I'm used to speaking Spanish.  I'm from Seville in Spain.  In the Spanish language it's pronounced Sevilla." (It's pronounced 'Say-vee-ya,' for you non-Spanish speaking individuals.)

"And you attended the academy there?"

"Oh, yes, of course I went there, the Seville Academy of Magic, or La Academia Mágico de Sevilla, as we called it."  You would think that I would have told him anything different?

"I will have to say that it is one of the few schools that I have not visited yet.  How is it in comparison to Hogwarts?"

"Smaller, it is definitely much smaller.  It's not a castle, either.  It was built in the ruins of an old monastery.  It's sort of ironic actually, having a school that teaches against the beliefs of the original founders of the place."  I didn't know if I was making this up out of thin air or actually remembering stuff.  I hoped it was the latter.

The man smiled.  "I don't believe that I've introduced myself.  I'm Remus Lupin."

"Esperenza Lynx.  You can call me Peri.  It's nice to meet you.  So what do you teach?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Oh really?  You work with all the curses and creatures and stuff then.  It must be interesting."

"Never a dull moment," he agreed.

I full heartedly agreed with him.  There never would be a dull moment around here, especially once the students came.

{Author's Note:  I love sick days!  This entire chapter was written in one day while I was home sick.  Pathetic, isn't it?

Jess:  ¿Piensas que español es apropiado, no?  Tú comprendas que me digo.  ¡Señora Swilley fue fantástica!  Sí, Snape tiene una corazon además.  Gracias.

Jackie: The cat would have been named Periwinkle, save that the character is called Peri.  That would have caused confusion, or maybe more than there already is.

Lyansidde:  Yes, that is the basic plot of what has happened.  That's as far as I know give or take a few things that I want to happen that no one else knows about.

Thanks to all of you guys!  Just to let you know, it took me fourteen chapters on my other story to get 10 reviews and this one I already have 6 with the three chapters that were posted! WOW!  ¡VAYA!~Nataly Ravenlock}


	5. Methods and Weasels

{Disclaimer:  I get no money for this.}

**Chapter 5**

**Methods and Weasels**

_**If it's just that you're weak/ can we talk about it/ it's getting' so damn creepy/ just nursing a ghost of a chance/ the fiction, the romance/ and the Technicolor dreams/ of black and white people."  Black and White People- matchbox20**_

            Snape packed lightly.  He wouldn't need much more than his wand and a spare set of robes.  He could survive.  He had done so many times before.  It was the only reason Snape was still breathing today.  There was only a few hours left until his departure…  

He had told Peri, he supposed that she should be called by her proper name, but she would stay Pit bull in his mind, that he was going to let her teach the first day of classes.  Snape planned to stay in his office to see if she was an utter failure or if she measured up to his high standards.  He could hear the students entering his classroom.  Noisy, moronic lot, all of them, he thought to himself, especially that wretched Potter boy.

Peri sat at a small teacher's desk in the corner of the room.  The students entered in clumps or pairs, only a few late loners.  They sat at their desks quietly waiting for Professor Snape.  She let them wait.

Snape wondered what the girl was doing.  She was letting them stay there doing nothing.  He could hear their chattering from inside his office.  Troublesome loudmouth gits.

Peri stood up from where she had been seated.  No one noticed her.  Perfect, she thought.  Have it their way.  "Alright!  LISTEN UP, YOU WEASELS!"  Her voice echoed off the walls of the dungeon without any magical assistance.  On the far left of the classroom, a student's face turned a shade of brilliant red.

From inside his office, Snape grinned maliciously.  She would do just fine.

The class quieted down instantly.  Her voice dropped down to its normal, quiet level.  "Thank you."  She paused to survey the students.  "I afraid Professor Snape will not be able to teach you all for the next couple of weeks.  I will be teaching in his place until he returns.  My name is Professor Lynx."

Smiles broke out on mostly every face.  They were not at all upset about Snape not being there.  Peri started with attendance to make sure everyone was accounted for.  She did not pause over the name that made most people stop and stare.  She had been locked away before his birth and was not more than vaguely familiar with who Harry Potter was.  "We will be starting today with a simple review."  She gave a half-smile.  "We are going to brew happiness."

A few of the slower member of the group looked confused.

"Can anyone tell me what we will need in order to create this potion?"

To no one's surprise, Hermione's hand shot straight up into the air.

"Can anyone, except for Ms. Granger who seems to be the only one of you dunderheads who seems to admit to knowing anything, tell me what is needed to brew happiness?"  Hermione looked crestfallen at not being chosen to tell what she knew, but there was a slight smirk on her face from being complimented.  No one raised their hands.

"Fine, have it your way.  Since no one answered my question, save for the person that I have been warned to know everything, all of you will be writing an essay on the ingredients found in a Hatred Potion and why they are used to brew such a potion."

The class stared in shock.  The new professor had not even been there ten minutes and they already were being forced to write a long and tenuous essay.  From his office, Snape decided once again that he liked his assistant's methods.

"Now, back to the brew of happiness.  I want you all to open you text to page 312.  The ingredient list is there along with the equipment that you will be needing.  Partner up and get to work.  We will be testing these at the end of the class."

There was a pause before the students started to get to work.  Peri leaned against the edge of her desk, arms crossed in front of her.  She watched her students with the eyes of an attack dog, waiting for someone to mess up.  The students quickly began the work on the potion.  Ingredients were chopped, ground, sliced, and crushed.  Liquids were carefully measured and added.  Peri kept close watch over everyone.  To her right, a cauldron seemed on the verge of boiling over.

Peri pulled out her wand, pointed it at the cauldron, and muttered a spell that she did not even know she knew.  The cauldron stopped its rapid bubbling, slowing to a placid surface.  "Mr. Longbottom, I suggest that you be extremely careful when combining the Vervain with the rest of the mixture.  If combined too quickly, it tends to froth."  She approached the boy, eyes narrowed.  "You will not explode any cauldrons while I am present in this classroom."

Neville Longbottom, who was known to be an utter failure at potions, didn't know whether to be grateful or terrified of the new Potions Master.  "Y-y-yes, professor."

"Then we are in agreement.  Get back to work."  Peri turned toward some of the other groups to check their progress.  Most of the potions were turning out nearly correct.  A few groups had to have minor adjustments on their mixtures, but other than that everything was fine.

"Everyone should be finished by now.  I would like a volunteer group."

No one raised their hands.

"Chickens, all of you.  Not a brave in one in the lot.  Pathetic, really.  You are a class of twenty some odd, and not one of you is willing to volunteer even when you know that your potions will be tested anyway before you leave the classroom."

A hand slowly crept into the air.

"Mr. Weasley, I presume.  Thank you."  She gestured for Ron and Harry to come to the front of the group.  Peri took their cauldron and poured a little bit into a test tube for each of them.  She handed them back.  "Bottoms up."

Ron and Harry looked at each, shrugged, and gulped down the potion.  In a few seconds, both wore wide grins that lit up their entire faces.

"No, tell me how you feel?"

"I feel wonderful, professor," Harry answered, smiling wider.

"Terrific.  Just fantastic," Ron replied brightly.

"Full marks, both of you.  Who's next?"

The rest of the class tested their potions.  All the students ended up extremely contented and filled with joy.

"Class dismissed.  Remember to write the essay that has been assigned to you.  I want it by the next time this class meets."

The students filed out of the dungeons, remarkably happier than they had been coming in.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione joined together in their own little group.  "So what do you think of the new professor?" Hermione asked.

"Any professor is an improvement on Snape," Ron voiced.

"Other than that."

"Oh, sorry.  She's alright, I guess," Ron grinned.  The effects of the potion had no worn off yet. 

"Harry?"

"I don't know.  She seems strange."

"What do you mean?"

"She didn't have any reaction to my name.  Usually professors at least pause or give some reaction."

Hermione looked at him.  "You're right; they usually do.  She didn't have any reaction towards who you are."  She paused, thinking.  "Unless, Snape warned her that you are here."

"That might have been it.  Snape probably gave her the entire speech that I was just a spoiled, big-headed teacher's pet and that I should be ignored." Harry snorted, remembering the many taunts that he had received from Professor Snape.

"Did you see what she did to Neville's potion?"

"You mean the spell that she cast at it before it was about to bubble over?"

"Exactly.  I wonder what spell she used.  I suppose I could find it in the library."

"Hermione, it's the first day back to Hogwarts and you already want to go to the library to do research?" Ron gave her an expression of disbelief.

Hermione looked hurt.  "Well…"

Snape walked out of his office to find Peri seated at her desk scribbling rapidly across a piece of parchment.  "Weasels, Pit bull?"

Peri looked up and smirked.  "Yes, weasels."

"Is there any specific reason that you called my students 'weasels'?"

"No, it just seemed appropriate."

"I do believe that you also called them 'dunderheads,' 'chickens,' and 'pathetic,' am I correct?"

"Yes," Peri found no reason not to admit to doing this.

"I congratulate you in doing so.  They are all morons that do not appreciate the subtle science of potion making."

"Thank you." Peri stood up.  "Is there anything else that I did that you wish to comment upon?"

"No.  I only wish you luck.  You are going to need it."  Snape stalked out of the Potions dungeon in his usual swirl of black, carrying only his wand and a small parcel.  Peri watched him depart, giving him only a sad shake of her head.  That man was too difficult for his own good.

Peri went back to writing her notes down on the parchment.  There were so many things that she wished she could remember.  She knew that she didn't mind being in front of people talking or teaching.  There was no recollection of teaching, but maybe she had done some at one point.

A knock at the door interrupted her thinking.  "Come in!" she spoke to whoever was there.  The door opened to reveal the professor she had been seated next to at dinner, Professor Lupin, if she remembered correctly.  He looked around to find her in the dark gloom.

Peri stood up to greet him.  She was surprised that he had come to see her.  "Hello.  Can I help you with anything, Professor?"

"Call me Remus, please."

"Alright.  Then may I help you with anything, Remus?"

"Yes, actually, you might be of some assistance.  I was wondering if Severus had left any notes of a potion that he had brewed for me."

"Let me check."  Peri rustled through the papers on her desk top.  She had only been there a few days and the desk was a complete disaster area.  Oh, well.  She pulled out a potion with Lupin's name written at the top.  "This one?"  She handed it to him.

"Yes, this would be it.  Do you know if he brewed any of it?"

Peri scanned the shelf.  Nothing was there that was labeled Wolfsbane Potion.  Snape had locked his office before leaving.  "No, I don't believe so.  I can brew you some if you need it."

"If you could, please.  I happen to be a terrible potions brewer," Lupin grimaced at his memories of potions.

Peri smiled.  "That's why I'm here.  So when would you like it?"

"Preferably as soon as possible."

"Okay.  I'll get right to.  I don't think I have another class until after lunch," she looked at her schedule.  "Okay, I don't have another class until after lunch.  When would you like me to drop it off?"

"After dinner would be fine."

"Alright, I can do that."

"Thank you, Peri.  I appreciate this."

"You're welcome.  If you ever need any other potions, I'll be willing to help."

"I shall see you later, then."  Professor Lupin exited the dungeons.

Peri looked over the Wolfsbane potion.  It was rather complex, though she couldn't see why Remus needed it.  In fact, she didn't remember ever hearing of a Wolfsbane potion before.  The only thing she knew that Wolfsbane was used for was to guard against werewolves.  Peri wondered what he was doing with werewolves.  Remus was the Defense professor after all.

The Wolfsbane potion was a good challenge that kept her busy until lunch.  In fact, she was so absorbed in the concocting of the potion that she would have forgotten to go to lunch save for that one of the numerous house elves residing at Hogwarts reminded her it was time to eat.  Obviously, Dumbledore had sent them to remind her.  He must have figured that she would forget about simple things like eating.

Her classes after lunch were not the most interesting thing to instruct.  Both were first year classes who knew almost nothing about potions.  Peri gave them a lecture on the science of potion making complete with a demonstration of how to prepare the ingredients.  She promised them a quiz on what she had gone over for the next class.

When the last student had exited the dungeon, she collapsed into her desk chair.  Maybe Snape had been right.  Maybe they didn't understand the subtle science of potion making.  Peri would fix that.  They would learn to understand.  She would make certain of it.

The Wolfsbane potion was almost complete.  It had brewed for the required amount of time and she had done everything accurately to her knowledge.  Peri took it off the heat and poured some into a goblet.  It steamed, giving off a horrible odor.  She hoped she had brewed it correctly.

After an uneventful dinner, the potion, still hot and steaming, was to be delivered.  Peri had no recollection to where the Defense rooms were located.  Oh, well, she decided.  She could wing it.  Fortunately, Hogwarts seemed to be one of the few things that she could remember.  Peri knocked on the door that happened to be labeled Defense Against the Dark Arts Office.

"Coming!" a voice from within called out.  Remus opened up the door.  "Ah, yes, Peri.  I was waiting for you.  Do come in."

Peri entered cautiously.  The room was cluttered with everything imaginable.  Creatures in tanks and cages were situated around the room.  A few dangerous looking plants stood alone in a corner.  "Wow." Peri decided after looking around.  She handed Lupin his potion.  "Here's the Wolfsbane potion just as you asked for it."

Remus took the goblet and frowned at it.  "It is a rather vile mixture.  Too bad sugar makes it worthless."  He swallowed it down.  The goblet was still steaming.  "Ah, well it does help."

"Can I ask what exactly a Wolfsbane potion does?"

Lupin looked at her and laughed.  "I apologize.  Its just you seemed so confident in making it, yet you have no clue as to why I need the potion."

"Right.  So why do you need it?"

"Have a seat.  I'll explain it to you.  Would you like some tea?"

Peri's eyes widened.  She still felt tea deprived.  "Yes, please."

Two mugs appeared on the table, steaming with a savory scent.  Peri took the mug and inhaled deeply.  "Mint," she decided.  "With green tea.  Its one of my favorites."

Lupin smiled at how naïve the girl could seem, yet how obviously brilliant she was.  "You wanted to know about the Wolfsbane potion."

"Yes.  You could say I've been a bit of a hermit for a while."  Peri chuckled to herself.  Hermit was not the exact word that she would have used to describe it, but it would be as close as she could come to telling the truth.

Lupin nodded sympathetically.  "You understand what a werewolf is, correct?"

"Yes."

"When the moon is full, the werewolf transforms into the wolf-like state, but retains no trace of the human thought process.  During this time, the werewolf has no control over who he attacks or what he does.  A few years ago, there was some experimenting with how to make that time more bearable.  They came up with the Wolfsbane potion."

Peri looked at him closely.  "So you're a werewolf?"

"Unfortunately, yes, I am."

"Oh. Okay.  It is nearing the full moon, isn't it?  And that's why you need the potion."

"Exactly."

"Fine, just tell me when you need me to make it and I will do so."

Lupin looked at the girl.  She seemed undaunted by the fact that he was a dangerous creature.  "It doesn't bother you that I am a werewolf?"

"No, should it?"

"Usually people don't, well, care to associate with my kind."

"Well, yeah," Peri shrugged.  "That's some people.  I see no reason to be afraid." She took a definitive sip of the tea.

Lupin laughed quietly to himself.  The girl had no fear.  The conversation lapsed as Peri gazed around the office.  She noticed a large, black, familiar looking dog lying in front of the fire place.  He seemed to be watching her.  She knew that dog, not very well, but she knew what he was none the less.  Lupin watched her eyebrows crinkle in confusion.

"Oh, yes.  That mangy mutt over there is Snuffles.  I took him in a few summers ago because no one else wanted him."

The dog stood up from his relaxed position on the floor and loped over to where Peri was seated.  She scratched him behind the ears.  Snuffles sat down, laying his giant head on her lap.  She continued to pet him, rather absent mindedly.

"He seems to have taken a liking you."

"Animal magnetism," Peri gave her head a nod of affirmation.  She looked at the watch she wore on her wrist.  "It's late.  I still have some things that I need to get done.  Bye, Remus, Snuffles."  Snuffles lifted his head off of Peri's lap so that she could leave.  Dog and werewolf watched her go.

Snuffles shook his head as he transformed into his human form.

"Well?" Remus asked him.  "What's your opinion on her?"

Sirius looked at him sharply.  "She comes from the same background as myself."

Remus nodded.  He had noticed Peri's eyes.  They held secrets that few would live to know.  "I thought as much."

"Other than that, only time can tell."

{Author's Note:  Eight reviews!  I'm thrilled with this!  It's great that people review my story!  It's Just Ducky!

A note on weasels.  The weasel part comes from my English teacher/ drama director.  She called the dancers in our musical 'weasels.'  Actually, she had the student teacher at the time sign to the dancers since they did not comprehend stuff and called them 'weasels.'  She also called my English class 'weasels.'  In fact she reminds me of Snape, being that she is strict and most people are completely terrified of her.  That is unless you get to know her and realize that she does it to make people work hard and actually accomplish things.

Anna Black:  You are welcome.  You have to understand that I actually do have a cat named Pixie who gets into absolutely everything and is extremely loudmouthed troublesome, so the cat is named after her.  If you can find a better name, go right ahead; it would be welcome.  As for the Snape in character, I try to keep him in his lovable, sarcastically evil self, which is not that hard since I tend to be sarcastic and cynical.  And, yes, Snuffles is at Hogwarts as a pet for now.  I don't speak French, yet.  I get as far as about two or three phrases.  I do speak Spanish quite well, so that is why it is in the story.  Thanks.

Jackie:  Don't worry, I won't forget Powder Blue.

Okie-day.  That's it for now.  Oh, and don't expect anything posted during the week of April 13 through April 20; we will be on vacation and not have contact with a computer that I can type chapters on.  Thanks for reading and reviewing.  Peace, Love, and Ice Cream, the One and Only Nataly Ravenlock}


	6. Fade to Grey

{Disclaimer: I get nothing for these tales other than the happiness or sorrow from being able to bear my soul to others.}

{This is for all you Snape fanatics out there.  I finally forced myself to write a chapter dedicated to him and him alone.}

**Chapter 6**

**Fade to Grey**

_**And then I see you there/ With your arms open wide and you try to embrace me/ These lonely tears I cry/ They keep me in chains and I wish they'd release me/ Cold is the night but/ Colder still is the heart made of stone turned from clay/ And if you follow me/ You'll see all the black, all the white, fade to grey. ** "Fade to Grey" by Jars of Clay **_

Snape yet again was in a foul mood.  Voldemort had found it rather lucky that Snape would be having an assistant Potions instructor and Dumbledore had been quite agreeable in letting the beloved Potions Master have a well deserved vacation.  Of course, he would not be sent off to a prime vacationing spot, now would he?  No, not at all.  In fact, he was being sent to a place that had once been used to send prisoners or people that needed punishment to.  It was the same place where a Russian Czar and his family had been sent before they disappeared and were murdered.  To make it worse, the place was in the middle of no where, cold, and prone to snow.  Think about it for a moment.  Could there be any places worse to be sent?  Snape couldn't think of any at the moment other than Azkaban.

Yes, our dear Severus Snape was in Siberia.  It was not the vacation he had wanted to go on, but the Dark Lord had forced him to go.  Well, not exactly forced, but if Snape disobeyed, he could have been slain by his master after a good round of torture.  So Snape was located in Siberia, it was snowing and freezing cold, and he was in a horrid mood because of it.

That does sum it all up quite nicely, but then you ask 'why the hell did Lord Voldemort want Severus Snape in Siberia?'  There was actually a very excellent reason behind it.

In the times of Merlin, a potion had been created in order to protect people from magic.  It worked like a shield, warding off any spells cast upon the person.  The potion had been highly effective in use, but unfortunately, only a list of the ingredients remained.  No one knew what to do with them, how long to brew them, or even how much to add or in what order.  It was considered a complete disaster and rarely were any attempts made to create it once again.

Merlin's Potion, as it had been dubbed by those that had discovered the volume it had been stored in, was kept as a carefully guarded secret in the wizarding world.  Who ever could find out how to make it work would be able to, if their goal be so, rule the world.  Thus the reason Voldemort wanted it.

Even so, a good number of capable wizards had attempted to solve it and failed miserably.  A few years back, a couple of wizard scientists set up a laboratory in one of their garages.  Their goal was to experiment in finding the potion that would protect any who had drunk it from the forces of magic. The wizards began their experiments, hoping to find something.  Unfortunately, the only thing they did figure out was an awesome recipe for kiwi lime punch.  Over the years, many had tried a hand at the potion, but none had found the true measures.

Voldemort wanted that potion.  With it he could be invincible and take over the world just had he had planned.  It would the entire plot much, much easier to follow through with if the Aurors would not be able to kill off his Death Eaters with magic.

Severus Snape happened to be one of the best Potions Masters in the Death Eater ranks, so naturally Lord Voldemort wanted him to work on the project.  The project was housed in the middle of Siberia.  Sure, there would have been other places that the research could have been done, but Siberia was the least likely place that people would think about looking for Voldemort's research lab.

Snape muttered to himself under his breath.  He worked alone in the dimly lit room.  People bothered him with their ignorance.  The other morons that his Master had assigned to work here were all blathering idiots, in his opinion.  They knew what they were doing, but there was no finesse in the work, not an ounce of pride put into what they were attempting to accomplish.  The quantities were tried and if they didn't work when tested, discarded without a word.  Damn pathetic excuses for human beings.

He squinted at the list of ingredients that had been hand copied from a large tome.  They were all familiar to him.  Some Snape had personally used.  Others he had only heard of and studied.  There had to be some logic in what was written, but it was no use.  He raked his fingers through his dark hair.  There was no logic to this.  Half these ingredients were known poisons that could easily kill a man with one drop.  The other half was strange, uncommonly used items, rare in the wizarding world.  Some of them were just not right.  Well, the recipe was correct since the potion had been proven to work by the great Merlin himself, but who would want to put a knitted sock or two in a potion?  It was certainly unheard of!

A knock at the door brought another scowl to Snape's face.  Before he could say a word, a short, balding man banged open the door.

"Severus!" he beamed joyfully, even after noticing Snape's grim disposition was worse than usual.  "How's it coming?  Have you had any luck yet?"

Snape stood up from where he had been trying to puzzle out the conundrums of Merlin's potion.  "No.  I will have better luck if you leave me alone."  He towered over the other man, not only in height, but in the force of his personality.

"Oh, okay.  If you say so.  The other guys and I were wondering if you wanted to come show-shoeing with us."

Snape glared again.  "No, Lennex, I have work to do.  If the rest of you would like to go out to make complete fools of yourselves while the Master waits for us to find his potion, then go right ahead.  I am going to stay here to see if I can get any closer to solving this puzzle."

Bradley Lennex had to crane his neck to meet the taller man's dark gaze.  "Fine, go right ahead, Severus.  You'll be missing all the fun."  He walked quickly out of the room and let the door close with a loud bang behind him.  For some reason the smile that Lennex had on his face when he had entered the laboratory had disappeared.

Snape noticed, of course.  He had never lost his touch of being able to make people fear him.  A slight grin echoed on his lips, but looked more like a grimace or a smirk than an expression of pleasure.  He went back to work.

Hours that seemed to last forever slowly turned to days.  The days became weeks, and the week piled themselves together into months.  Merlin's Potion was coming no closer to where it had been before.  Nothing had worked.  No exact amounts could be found that when tried were true.  Yet Lord Voldemort wanted it by Halloween.

Voldemort sat on his throne in the empty hall.  He knew that things were not going as well as expected with his potion.  He knew that even though his most trusted Death Eaters were working everyday for long hours, nothing was being found that was even remotely helpful to what he wanted to do.

Yes, Lord Voldemort had plans.  They were a great, long, numerous plots that usually involved either murder, torture, or taking over the Muggle-loving scum that inhabited the rest of the wizarding world.  There was one in particular that Voldemort felt had waited quite long enough.  He rubbed his hands together in gleeful anticipation of what he would do.  Alas, he was not direct participating in his planned escapade.  Only after would the true fun begin.  Only after he had Potter, would the true fun begin.

Halloween was two days away.  Snape and the rest of the Death Eaters stationed in the small Siberian outpost were sweating, frantically attempting every last combination of the list of ingredients.  People rushed around, set on their tasks.  Tempers were strung tighter than a stretched rubber band.  If pulled even the slightest bit, they would snap and break.  No one even thought about sleeping through the days ahead.  The adrenaline kept them going.  If they didn't find it by Halloween…  Nobody wanted to think about what would happen if they didn't find it, yet they did without a doubt.  Each had their minds on separate tortures that might be inflicted upon them.  The mere thought of what their Great and Wonderful Dark Lord would do them if they failed forced them to work harder, faster, longer. 

The dreaded day came at last.  Voldemort had summoned them just as the sun had begun to set in its magnificent blazes of red and orange.  It reminded them of fire burning bright, fire that they would soon feel the wrath of.  The dozen or so Death Eaters were noticeably worried.  Snape was the only one that managed to remain outwardly unruffled though inside he was just as nervous as the rest.

They were brought inside Lord Voldemort's throne room.  It was a room specifically made to be intimidating.  The group immediately knelt before their Lord and paid him the homage that Voldemort felt he deserved.

Though he knew the answer, Lord Voldemort asked his question anyway.  "Have you found my Potion?"  His voice echoed in the empty halls.  No one moved to answer the query.  "Well?" he boomed.

"N-n-no, my Lord," one of the men answered.

"I do not take 'no' for an answer, Lennex.  You shall pay for your failure.  _Crucio!"  Bradley Lennex, once jovial and happy, writhed in complete and utter agony on the floor.  His screams could be heard from outside the castle walls.  Voldemort waited patiently.  It was only a matter of time…  Lennex's screams grew weaker and softer until they were only whimpers and then no more.  He was dead.  Voldemort left him where he had died as an example for the other Death Eaters._

Another man spoke up.  "Master, we need more time.  You cannot expect us to solve a mystery that has not been completed, though others have tried, in over eight hundred years."

"Yes, I can and I do expect my Potion now."  Voldemort pointed his wand at the man.  "_Avada__ Kedavra!"  The other man lay dead, no pain, no suffering, just death.  "Anyone else?"  His voice reminded them of a viper waiting to strike._

No one spoke up.  They knew their fate.  There was no use trying to deny what would happen next.  They would die.  They had failed miserably and would pay for what they had not accomplished.

Voldemort looked over the remaining Death Eaters.  Most of them were visibly shaking.  A quick death was too good for them.  He would make them suffer for their failure.  He would make them suffer greatly.  They would never fail him again if they survived.  He pointed his wand at them, muttering a few quick words.  Nothing that could be seen by the Death Eaters occurred.  A malicious grin slowly spread across his face.  This was going to be enjoyable.  He pointed his wand at them and spoke another word.  The remaining, living Death Eaters disappeared from sight.

The first thing that Snape felt was cold.  It was a deep bone wrenching chill that stole any hope of warmth away.  He could see nothing for miles around.  Where was he located was the first question that came to mind.  Snape thought about a familiar place and spoke the spell to apparate.  He did not move from the spot he was standing in.

"Damn!" he cursed and added a few other choice words not worth repeating.  Lord Voldemort had thought enough to block them from Apparating away from the places that they had been sent.  Snape shivered involuntarily.  It was so cold…  He looked around.

The land was empty, desolate, and had a lonely feel to it.  He could see no one and no thing save endless expanses of snow and ice.  The white was a stark contrast to the brilliant blue of the sky.  He could see no actual sun yet the reflections off the snow were enough to nearly blind him.  He shivered again.  Though his robes were thick, they were no protection against the chilled air.  He took out his wand and conjured a hooded parka, a pair of ski pants, mittens, and thick, warm boots.  They would do for now.  At least Lord Voldemort had not thought it hilarious to let him die this way with no magic.  Snape began to walk.

There was no where that he planned to go.  Moving would keep him warmer than simply standing still.  He walked at a steady pace, head down and hands stuffed in his pockets.  He was still cold, but not nearly as much as he had been before.

The scenery changed little with only an occasional hill or cave.  There were no plants, no trees, and no creatures that he could see unless they were hiding purposely from his presence.  Snape lost himself in vague trains of thought until he noticed the light beginning to fade.  He quickly glanced up.  It was noticeably dimmer than it had been before.  He should stop and rest if he was going to keep going like this.

There was a cave in the distance, far enough away to reach maybe before the sun set completely.  Snape lengthened his stride.  The cave was empty or so seemed to be.  There was no trace of any inhabitants.  No foot prints showed in the light snow except for his own.  It would do for now.  It would keep out the wind.  Snape conjured up a quick meal and a few survival blankets that would keep him warm through the cold, relentless night.  He ate quickly and cleared away scraps that creatures would have taken from him during the night.  Still completely clothed in his snow gear, Snape pulled the blankets around himself and fell into a deep, yet troubled sleep.

Snape awoke as the first rays of light entered the dark confines of the cave.  A soft blanket of snow had blown inside, covering the blankets that protected him.  He stood up, shook them off, and magicked them away.  Snape still felt the cold throughout his body.  He would have to keep going.

The white expanse had not changed since yesterday.  A new snow had wiped out any tracks, leaving only a pristine whiteness behind.  Snape stepped out of his shelter, leaving only imprints in the snow to say he had ever been there.  He picked a likely direction that he did not think he had traveled from and went out into the great unknown.

Snape did not know what his future would entail.  He could only hope that he would get back to humanity eventually.  Yes, he was a loner at heart, but everyone needs to be around people unless they want to go crazy.  Snape was not one to follow that path of life.  He felt almost a slight need to be back at Hogwarts, as if invisible strings attached him to the place.  He missed his dark dungeons; it was too bright here for his liking.  And too cold as well.  He daydreamed of fire places with warm, merry blazes burning.

A slight breath of wind awoke him from his meandering thoughts.  Snape looked out into the distance.  Yes, something was there.  He could see a line of black on the horizon.  A grim look of determination was cast upon his face as he turned his path toward what ever was there, be it friend or foe.

For hours he plodded onward.  Right, left, right, left like some deranged marcher in an army of one, too obstinate to know when to stop.  Snape watched only the snow pathless in front of him.  He raised his head as the snow darkened to a pebbled road.  He had reached a town.  It seemed deserted at first glance, but there were signs of people.  Footprints on the snow bank edges, toys in the streets, a bicycle's wheel still spun in the breeze.  Where were they?  All the signs pointed out that people had to be there.  Snape walked down the street, glancing into the empty, lifeless structures.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned.  Snape only felt a stunning blow to his head then all faded from sight to the grey of unconsciousness.

{Author's Note:  I am highly impressed with all the reviews that I have received for this fic: a whole thirteen!  WOW!!!  I apologize if this chapter was rather dark and dreary but it fits into the plot which was roughly figured out at a time when there was no computer available to me.  I think the chapter was dark because of the music I was listening to while composing it: the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. I am completely ecstatic that I finally got it!  You have to understand that I'm a huge LOTR fan.  I probably shouldn't say that in a HP fan fic, should I?  Oh, well.  Thanks to those of you who read and review this.  The next chapter will be up as soon as I get around to writing it.  Enjoy!

Agent 99:  Thanks for taking the time to review my fic.  If you need any more help with the swords, I'll be here.  Good luck!

Jackie:  Thanks, but not right now.  I will learn French later.  Hope you had fun in Myrtle Beach.

Anna Black:  You see, right now I'm in Spanish 3 with an over 100 average.  My best friend, Jessica, and I have spent a day at a Spanish speaking elementary school and participated in a play completely written in Spanish.  At my new school, I attended a week long camp in which we could only speak Spanish.  So I better be half way decent by now.  I assume you were talking about Sirius in your review?  I hadn't thought about clearing him, but we just might do that if I can fit it in.  Actually, now that I think about it, that idea might fit rather nicely… Insert Evil Laughter here at brewing idea.  Boy, could we have fun with that!  Be terrified.  Be extremely terrified.

Kat Morning: I try to keep Snape in character.  It's not too hard if you think like him, i.e. dark, cynical, sarcastically evil, et cetera.  It's rather easy for me since I tend to have the same qualities.

Sophie W: I can only write so fast, but here's the next chapter and thanks for reviewing quite rather nicely.  I do enjoy reviews like yours with "Post More Soon Please" written with cap locks and many exclamation points.

Thank you all.  Peace, Love, Ice Cream, and Chocolate, Nataly Ravenlock}


	7. Condemnation

{Disclaimer:  I own nothing except for Peri and other random parts of the plot that were created from my imagination.}

{A/N: Mwuhahahaha!  *cough* *cough* *hack*Damn allergy season.  I'm quite proud of myself.  This makes two chapters in a row that have been simply Snape!  Woo-hoo!}

**Chapter 7**

**Condemnation**

_**A court is in session, a verdict is in/ No appeal on the docket today/ Just my own sin/ The walls are cold and pale/ The cage made of steel/ Screams fill the room/ Alone I drop and kneel/ Silence now the sound/ My breath the only motion around/ Demons cluttering around/ My face showing no emotion/ Shackled by my sentence/ Expecting no return/ Here there is no penance/ My skin begins to burn  "My Own Prison" Creed**_

Snape slowly came back into consciousness.  He could feel his head throbbing from whatever had happened before.  The floor beneath him was cold as stone, yet it was reassuring that he was out of the elements.  The room smelled dank, as if it had been unused and closed away.  The monotonous beat of dripping water echoed in emptiness.  Snape cracked open his eyes.

Darkness.  He could barely make out the lines of a door way.  Everything was shades of black.  The door could only me seen by the slightly lighter dark color that crept in through the cracks.

He was on the floor.  Obviously, they had just thrown him inside.  Snape stood up.  He found a wall nearby and paced the four sides.  The cell was not very large.  It held nothing save himself.  Snape pressed against the door; locked.  He had expected as much just as he had expected them to take away his wand.  He felt his pockets; his wand was missing.  Snape decided that he was not dealing with Muggles.  That was not a good thing.  It was not good at all.

A slot near the bottom of the door opened.  A pan of something was slid underneath.  Snape realized that he was starving.  He poked at the mush with a long finger and frowned.  It looked like it could be used as cement or at least putty.  The smell of it removed any feeling of hunger.  Snape wondered how edible it actually was.  Probably not very, he decided to himself.  He set the pan back by the door and stretched out on the floor, humming tunelessly to himself.

Snape thought about how he had failed his Master.  He was a disgrace.  The Death Eaters would never accept him again.  They would torture him.  He could already hear their laughter as they watched him writhe in pain on the floor, pleading for the agony to stop.  He could see them pointing at him with their wands, sending curses that would humiliate him.  They would let him rest for a few moments in time, then start up at it once more.  It would be repeated until he either broke completely or died.  Snape could picture his death with surprising ease.  There would be no funeral, no mourning, people wouldn't know that he was dead until he never showed up again.  Oh, yes, they would start worrying then.  It would take them a few months to find him, if they were lucky.  If they weren't…  He didn't want to think about that.

Who exactly were the others?  Were there any other people who would want to know where he had disappeared to when he did not arrive back at Hogwarts at his appointed time?  He thought about that.  Were there really any people that cared for him?  The only ones he could think of were maybe Dumbledore and a few of the professors that he had taught with.  He had no real friends; he couldn't trust anyone that far in order to completely connect with them.  He was double sided.  Most people knew only his Death Eater side or his Potions Master side.  Some knew both, but that number was small and the people that knew were rare.  Dumbledore knew the entire truth.  And Peri…

What about the girl?  She knew everything.  She knew that he was a Death Eater, but would she know enough to keep it a secret?  People would murder him as soon as they found out.  He would be out of a job and out of a life that had kept him in favor with his Master for years.  He would be useless to the Death Eaters.  Maybe he would live, maybe he would die.  His Potion skills might save him, but they were his only chance and he had failed.  Snape would have to rely on wits alone for survival.

The door crashed open with a deafening boom.  Snape could only see harsh outlines against the brightness of the corridor.  Two figures rushed in and forced him into a semi-standing position.

"I welcome you to our humble abode," the voice was cool and soft, yet held a menacing edge, a knife blade in the black of night.  

"Where am I?" Snape had never heard his voice sound this hopeless.

"You, my dear Death Eater, are in the scorpion's den, caught in the lion's jaws, under the dragon fire.  This is no Utopian place, no Shangri-La, Atlantis, or Xanadu.  Oh, no, it's not, my boy, it's not.  This is the place where you nightmares come true, your own living hell, only a level in the Netherworlds that reside below us.  This is your Room 101, your own Chateau d'If.  This is your fiendish dream.  This is where you shall never leave.  Welcome to your demise.  Welcome to Sade."

Snape face held a blank, unreadable expression.

There was a pause with a slight sigh.  The voice became more gentle, if rock hard could be called gentle.  A callused hand grasped Snape under the chin and forced him to look the keeper in the eye.  Though Snape could not make out the features, he held the gaze.  "You will die, for I see death in your eyes."

The men dropped Snape back to the floor and left the room.  The hooded figure with the voice of stone took one last look at him before slamming the door shut.

Snape was alone again with only the drip of water for his companion.  Drip.  Drip.  Drip.  He had never heard of this place, this Sade, this prison.  It never helped him much, not knowing where he was.  Since he did not know where he was, he could not know where escaping would bring him.   It would be a lost cause to try.  Snape slumped against the far wall, eyes toward the outlined doorway so that he could see all who chose to enter his cell.  He was not expecting many visitors.  Snape slowly lost track of time, letting his mind concentrate on other matters, such as the potion that he had failed with.  He knew the ingredients, but had no cauldron to create the mixtures.  From memory and logical perception to what the mixing would do, he let his mind work.

Life had taught him never to have an idle mind.  It was a pathetic excuse for living when one cannot think for his self.  Always keep a busy mind and you shall always live.  A mind that does not work is dead, useless.  Dead minds were no use to anyone, including the person that they belonged to.  He could not let himself lose his remaining shards of sanity, however few they may be.

Hours passed like fleeing wraiths in the darkness.  The door crashed open for the second time.  Two large beings hauled Snape up from where he had been sitting.  He made himself limp in their arms.  Obvious resistance was futile, but passive resistance might do him some good.

"We have a tradition here at Sade," it was the same speaker as before with the voice that made ice seem warm.  "We know how hard it is to keep track of time, so we assist you in remember how long that you have been here.  On every month anniversary of your arrival, we present you with a little gift.  Think of it as a birthday present."  The robed arm gestured to the men supporting Snape.  "To the room."

Snape kept his head high, watching his surroundings.  It didn't help much.  All the corridors were the same pale gray, dirt covered brick.  Every so often there was a corridor that they would turn down or a stairway that they would descend.  The robed figure opened up a locked door.  Snape was stripped to the waist.  His wrists were tied tightly together to a long chain winched to a pulley on the ceiling.  Snape was yanked upward, suddenly dangling just above the ground.  His ankles were strapped into leather cuffs attached to the floor.  The robed nameless figure who was his keeper gave him a quick shove to make sure he was solidly secured.  The figure disappeared out of his range of vision.

A small gasp escaped the failed Potion Master's lips.  He hadn't been expecting this.  Another crack filled the air as the whip connected with the pale skin of his back.  Snape took a deep breath to steel himself as the whip stung again.  Again and again, it flew through the air.  He could feel the welts form crossroads across his back.  Drops of crimson blood stood out against his fair skin and red weals.  A moan escaped his lips even though he knew he should be used to being torture by now.

It took him a few moments to realize that the sound had stopped and the whip was still.  His ankles were unstrapped and slowly, he was lowered to the cool, stone floor.  Snape lay there unmoving, waiting, letting himself breathe again.  He felt himself wrenched up into the arms of the guards.  He did not have to pretend to be limp as they carried him back to his dank cell.

Snape gasped as he was roughly thrown back into his cell.  He supposed he could call it home now, for a while at least.  He would stay until they were done with him, or maybe he was rescued.  If he would be rescued, which was not extremely likely.  He didn't move from the place where he lay.

The cold stone gave him nothing for his pain.  The whip hurt more than imagined.  Thirty-nine times he had been hit.  Thirty-nine, the highest number that was legal to go without killing the person completely.  One more and he might not survive.  One more to die.  He wished they had.  He wished he was dead.

No, it wouldn't be right.  He had to live.  He had to survive this place and be free again.  It was in his blood to be a survivor.  Snape had survived Hogwarts when had been shunned as a child from his father's dark past.  He had survived entering the ranks of Death Eaters.  He had lived through countless murders and attacks.  He had survived teaching ignorant morons about potions.  Yes, he would survive.  If he had done it before, he could do it again.  It was possible.  Maybe…

A sliver of doubt crept through his mind.  What were his chances?  Had people escaped from this place?  Did he have a chance?  The sliver would grow until it consumed him, devoured him whole.  A tiny splinter still causes great pain.  The smallest pebble can begin an avalanche.  The flutter wings of a butterfly can create a tornado.

Snape let the darkness around him fade into the nothingness of sleep.  He dreamed he was back at Hogwarts, teaching.  The students were horrid as usual, but he felt the same distance between him and them.  They listened to what he told them, took notes, and created the fabulous mixtures.  Every cauldron was the same shade of green, the shade that the potion was supposed to be, the shade of the Merlin's potion.  It was the only thing that he had every failed.  Severus Snape was not one to fail.  It would be the bane of his existence for the remainder of his time living.  He had failed once, might he do it again?  Was he utterly as reliable as he thought he was?  No, he had failed miserably.

The Potions Master was mentally breaking himself down, beating himself up.  There was no tougher judge than when one judged himself.  He kicked himself for failure and stupidity.  He hit himself over the head with imagined fists for being such an incompetent moron.  He gave himself thoughtless bruises with his mind for the damage he caused for himself.  He cursed himself with every curse he knew, though none were effective given that his wand was not there.

His captures knew that Snape would do this to himself.  They had time to study him and information from other sources.  They knew his major character flaw of being a perfectionist and how he was not willing to give that up for anything.  They knew him all too well.  It would be easy to break him.  Just give him enough time alone for the depression to set in and he would hate himself more than he already did.  That and a few torture sessions with various sadistic instruments, Snape would break like the fragile egg that he was.

Their Master had given him to them with the orders to break him.  Of course, Lord Voldemort would have preferred to do it himself, but being an evil Warlord set on world domination did not give him much time for the more fun activities such as personal torture.  So Snape had been sent to a group of loyal minions trained in the art of torture which worked just as well.  Either way, he would break.  Either way, he would be dead and lost from the world.  He would vanish and cease to exist.

Snape did not know this nor did he think about it.  He only knew that his life was soon to be forced out of a pleasant existence and that he would be not able to go back to where he had come from.  He realized this plainly.  Sitting in a dark room gave him too much time to think.  Thinking was a dangerous occupation.  It showed him that there was no chance of him living to get out of this place.  There was only darkness.  Every thought was of hopelessness and despair.

{Author's Note:  Room 101 comes from George Orwell's 1984.  It is a place where your worst nightmares are shown to you to get you to change your mind.  Chateau d'If is from the Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas.  It is a prison on an island where the prisoners are whipped on each yearly anniversary of their imprisonment.  Personally, just read both of the books.  They're awesome.  Sade comes from the marquis de Sade, a Frenchman that wrote books about horrid stuff.  His name is where the words "sadism" and "sadistic" come from.  If you look up "sadism" one definition is the getting of pleasure from inflicting physical or psychological pain on others, according to Webster's New World Dictionary.

 To all of you that stated Chapter 6 was not my normal style, it wasn't.  I was having a depressing couple of weeks when I wrote it.  Life is better now.  Marching Band has begun and I am going to learn how to play the clarinet this year.  Last year I was in the pit, learning how to play the glockenspiel.  (Don't ask.  It's a small metal xylophone like instrument that is extremely loud and annoying.)  And yes, for those of you who are wondering about my mental stability, it is nonexistent.

Sophie W.  Thanks, I do appreciate Cap Locks and exclamation points.

Jackie:  Read above.  You're used to the hyper, perky side of me not the overly dark, sarcastic, cynical, pessimistic one.

Anna Black:  See above note for explanation.  Yes, it was me who said that Weird Al has more than one Jedi song.  I know at least he has a parody to Copa Cabana.  ("Her name is Leia.  She was a princess…") And one about Yoda called rather ironically, "Yoda".  Just for you since you have been complaining about it, I changed the name of the cat to something hopefully more appropriate.}


	8. Dark of Night

{Disclaimer:  I own only the things that you don't recognize.}

**Chapter 8**

**Dark of Night**
    
    _**This is over my head / But underneath my feet / Cause by tomorrow morning I'll have this thing beat / And everything will be back to the way that it was / I wish that it was just that easy/ Cause I'm waiting for tonight / Been waiting for tomorrow / I'm somewhere in between / What is real / Just a dream "Somewhere In Between" Lifehouse**_

Flickering shadows cast from candles danced upon the dark walls.  Harry peered around in the gloom.  He did not recognize this place.  A lone figure lay on the floor facing away from him.  Harry could make out long welts dripping blood across the man's back.  He was obviously in tremendous pain.  The figure's head tilted back and a low scream escaped the parched lips.  Harry could see the features in full now.  The dark eyes and hooked nose gave everything away.  It was Professor Snape.

What the Potions Master was doing locked up in a cell was something Harry did not know.  Harry wasn't even sure he wanted to know.

A serpentine voice whispered across the shadows.  "This is what happens to those who fail me."

Snape's back arched as he shrieked in agony.  Harry watched as his professor dropped back to the cold unforgiving floor, whimpering.  He had never thought of Professor Snape as a person to whimper.

The voice spoke again.  "No one fails me without retaliation.  The punishment for incompetence is death."

Harry awoke shivering.  He had kicked off all of his blankets during his nightmare.  His scar throbbed in a painful beat.  Voldemort.  It was the only answer.  Voldemort had to be behind it.  Harry supposed he would have to tell Dumbledore even though life would be much more pleasant without Professor Snape around.  He climbed out of bed, groping around for his glasses.  His invisibility cloak was right where he had left it: in his trunk.  He pulled it out and over his shoulders.  Harry snuck away into the darkness of the sleeping castle.

The candles held too much of a likeness to his dream from Harry's comfort.  He felt a tremor pass through him as he walked the halls alone and afraid.  He arrived at the gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office and froze.  He didn't remember the password.

"Listen, I need to talk with Professor Dumbledore.  I had another nightmare.  Professor Snape may be in trouble."  Surprisingly the gargoyle jumped aside at his plea.  Harry clamored quietly up the stair.

"What may I do for you, Harry?" Professor Dumbledore seemed to be expecting him.  Harry took a seat in one of the comfy chairs.

"I had another nightmare, sir."

Dumbledore nodded.  He had expected as much.  "Go on."

"It was about Professor Snape.  Voldemort had him locked away in a cell.  He said something about retaliation for failure."

"Was there anything else that was said?  We need to know everything, Harry."

Harry thought for a moment.  "Voldemort is going to kill him."  His voice wavered slightly.

"I was afraid something like this was going to happen.  Professor Snape has been a great source of information, but it seems his high esteem has at last fallen," Dumbledore sighed.  Despite him being a Death Eater, Dumbledore had rather liked Snape.  Yes, personality was a turn off, but beneath the exterior was an amazingly intelligent person.

"What did he mean by failure?"

"Harry, my boy, Professor Snape was assigned to work on a special potion that would have made Lord Voldemort invincible.  He must not have found the correct recipe.  Or he might have done it on purpose.  We may never know."

The door slammed open with a booming crash against the wall.  Esperenza Lynx stalked into the office giving definition to the term mad woman.  Her eyes were dark and wild, her hair sprung out in like it had been electrocuted.  Her mouth wore a grim snarl.  "What the hell did you do with him, Professor?"

"Calm down, Peri.  Take a seat."

Peri remained standing.  "I will not calm down until you explain this to me.  Now where the hell did you send Severus?"

"He was originally in Siberia.  We don't know where he is now," Dumbledore was not certain if he had been entirely right about this girl.  She looked as if she very well could have committed the murders she thought she had.

"I do!  He's locked away in a cell being damn well tortured to death!"

"That is quite enough, Esperenza.  Calm yourself.  Mr. Potter has just told me as much."

Peri's eyes widened as she noticed Harry sitting nearby.  "You!  How the hell do you know about it?"

"Harry sometimes gets sendings from Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore explained.  Harry noticed that his substitute Potions Mistress did not even flinch at the name.

"Oh," that calmed Peri down slightly though she did not understand it in the least.  "So what are we going to do about it?"

"Esperenza, we necessarily aren't going to do anything about it.  The Ministry will not go searching for one man on account of a dream and however you happen to know about this."

"I could feel his pain," she whispered softly.  Peri had made an almost complete turn around from the screaming lunatic to composed state of being.

"Fine, then.  A feeling and a dream are not enough evidence to go after Severus Snape."

"If they won't go, then I will," she turned to storm back out the door.

"Esperenza, wait.  You don't even know where he is."

"That's not a problem, sir.  There's a connection between us.  He saved my life.  I owe it to him to repay the debt."

"You have a good reason.  I see that even if I tell you not to go, you will still go," Dumbledore looked at her over the rims of his half-moon spectacles.  "Sometimes, being obstinate can be a virtue.  Go then and find him.  May your journey be swift and painless."

"Thank you, sir.  I'll be back as soon as I can."  She rushed out of the room in a flurry of black robes.

Professor Dumbledore looked back to the younger Gryffindor.  "Well, Harry, that problem may be solved though by finding a solution many more conundrums appear.  We shall just have to wait and see what happens."

"Thank you, sir.  Good night."

"Good night, Harry."

Dumbledore watched the boy leave and shook his head.  He did not know.  Peri was probably being hasty, but she would prevail.  He hoped Severus would live.  It was a thin line of life and death that they were walking.  A small step to either side and they would fall.  He hoped they were able to keep their balance as precocious as it may be.

Peri nearly flew back down to the Potions Dungeons.  She piled together a few necessities, such as her wand, a knife, a water canteen, random food stuffs, a few healing potions, and a few other objects that might prove themselves necessary into a small sack.  Such would come in handy.  Not even bothering to lock the door, she stormed out again, nearly tripping over her cat.

"You want to come too, Wyvern?  I suppose so, if anything just for company.  Come along.  We'd better be on our way."

Before the light of the dawning day, Peri accompanied by her cat left Hogwarts.  She turned to gaze at the castle illuminated only by the light of the moon and wondered if she would ever see it again.

The questioned remained.  Where was she going?  She took out her wand and placed it on the palm of her hand.  "_Locate," she whispered.  A swirl of smoke curled out from the tip.  It formed into a large stone building.  Inside, she could see a small figure curled up in a cell.  He was there.  "_Locate_," Peri spoke again.  The smoke reformed into a globe of the earth.  A red dot pinpointed itself in Asia.  "Well, at least he's still on this planet."  Peri began to walk away from Hogwarts into the Forbidden Forest.  She would need to Apparate eventually.  Humming something Dvorak to herself, she began her journey._

Sirius stood at his window in the castle and watched the tiny figure depart away from the castle.  "Follow her.  I have a feeling that she will need some assistance."  He did not have to look over his shoulder to sense Dumbledore standing behind.

"I will," Sirius replied, still watching.  He turned to say something to Dumbledore but the Head Master had vanished as quickly has he had appeared.  On the table sat a small box with Sirius's name written on the top.  He opened it carefully, not knowing who would give him a gift.  His birthday was not near and Christmas was still a few months away.  He gave a small gasp of surprise.  It was a wand, his old wand to be exact.  Dumbledore must have found it somehow.  Sirius took it in his hand.  He felt whole again.  Sticking his newly found treasure in his pocket, he transformed to his dog form and left Hogwarts.

Peri's footprints were easy enough for him to track, given his canine senses.  He stayed a few steps behind her and hidden in the shadows of the night.  He wasn't worried about being noticed.  She seemed like the accepting type or at least he hoped.

The Dvorak changed to Tchaikovsky as Peri wandered deeper into the Forbidden Forest.  Not that she realized what she had been humming in the first place, but she remembered something none the less.  She glanced down at the calico cat stalking shadows beside her.  "You know, Wyvern, we probably could have waited until morning to start this, but that's what I get for being an obstinate git, eh?" Peri chuckled grimly and shook her head.  "Sometimes I just don't know, cat.  I remember things bit by bit, but never the entire picture.  The edges get blurred and faces are missing, yet pieces are there.  It only what's on them that I don't remember."  She sat down on a fallen log, placing her chin in the palms of her hands.  "It's impossible, cat.  Life's impossible.  I don't even know who I am or who I was or what I was or where I was going in life.  I have no recollection of family or friends, just pieces that don't fit together.  It's like some child took the puzzle pieces of my life and mixed them up.  Some pieces are still in the box, others are under the couch or chewed on by the family mutt.  Some are stained and broken; others have just plain gone to who knows where."  Peri looked up at the rising sun.  "It's a new day, cat.  A new time for new things.  A new life is ahead of us if we can get to where we're going."  She paused remember something and sang broken lyrics in a light contralto.  "A new life, all I ever wanted was a new life."  Peri looked down at the cat, who was purring contentedly at her feet.  "You know what, cat?  I don't even remember where those are from.  Pathetic, isn't it?"  She pulled herself off the log.  "I supposed we ought to get going.  Good-bye, world."

Sirius sat in the bushes nearby listening to Peri's monologue.  He almost laughed, though that would have been almost impossible in his canine form.  The voice seemed familiar to him, though he could not yet place it.  Maybe he would be able to, eventually.  He stood up from his crouch and resumed his tracking.

Peri went on humming something completely different now, maybe a mix of John Williams and Bizet.  (Theme from Star Wars mixed with the Habanera from Carmen, anyone?)  She was aware of her surroundings, yet kept her mind perfectly oblivious to what was going on.  It was a technique that she had perfected in Azkaban.

Sirius kept trying the picture the younger version of Peri in his head.  She had been blonde when he had first met her, so he assumed that was her natural hair color.  All he could remember was a short, energetic blonde with a fetish for classical music and a bad habit of holding conversations with herself.  He could picture her perfectly.  She had been a Gryffindor, he was certain of that.  No other house seemed to fit her.  She didn't seem to have the mind set for Ravenclaw.  No Hufflepuff could have ended up in Azkaban.  She wasn't conniving enough to be a Slytherin.  She did have the Gryffindor stubbornness and was willing to throw herself into danger, so that is where she must have been.  Sirius shook his head.  He should remember her.  Peri couldn't be more than a few years younger or older than himself.

He had once prided himself in knowing everyone in his house.  He had repeated the litany of names during his time in Azkaban.  Over and over through his head to keep himself sane.  They had been names of people who he had known, some better than others, but he had known them none the less.  People who that he would have never betrayed James and Lily were on that list.  Yet none had stepped forward to testify against his imprisonment.  Why?  Why had they left him alone for all those years?  Sirius stopped short, noticing that Peri had halted.  She gazed around the clearing where she had stopped.  "I suppose that this should be far enough from the castle.  Wyvern, come here!"  The cat was sniffing around some of the bushes, slowly inching itself closer to where Sirius waited.  "What'd you find, girl?  Someone was following us, I suppose.  Dumbledore just couldn't trust me, could he?  Come on out.  I know you're there, so there's no used hiding."

Sirius, still appearing as a large, black dog, crept out of the tangle of leaves.

"Oh, it's you," Peri looked almost as if she had expected him.  "Hullo, Sirius."

Sirius peered into the gloomy depths of trees before changing back to human.  He pulled a stray leaf out of his hair.  "Good morning.  So where exactly are we headed?"

"You never were one to beat around the bush, were you?  Actually, all I know is that we're headed somewhere in Asia."

"Asia.  And can you explain why we are going to Asia?"

Peri took a deep breath.  Something inside her warned of a rivalry between Sirius and the missing Slytherin.  "Snape," she simply decided.

"You're going all the way across continent to Asia to find that greasy slimeball of a Slytherin?!"

"Yes, and from what it looks like, you're coming, too."

"Is there any reason behind this?"

"Your slimeball of a Slytherin, quote-unquote, has been locked away by a few other Death Eaters and is being tortured to death."

"And you are going to go save him.  One escaped convict verses an entire mess of Death Eaters."

"No, the odds are better now.  We have two escaped convicts and a cat verses an entire mess of Death Eaters."

"Great," Sirius mumbled sarcastically.  "That makes me feel much better, especially the part about having a cat with us."

"Wyvern, sic him."

Wyvern approached Sirius cautiously.  She sniffed at his boots and rubbed against his ankles with a loud purr.  The cat then proceeded to lie down in front of him to get her stomach rubbed.  "Great attack cat.  She'll purr the Death Eaters to death."

"That's the whole plan.  She'll distract them while we get Snape."

"Do you even know where he is?"

Peri scrunched her eyebrows together in thought.  "No, not exactly."  She pulled out her wand.  "I can tell you this much.  He's in Asia," the map of the globe with the red dot appeared again.  "And this is the building where's he's being kept."  The picture changed to the large, stone building.

"Siberia," Sirius decided.  "The damn git got himself trapped in Siberia."  He laughed quietly to himself.

Peri determined that Sirius was probably the worst person to be sent on the rescue mission.  Oh, well, she would have to deal with it.  "Can you Apparate?"

"Yes, I can," he retorted, slightly miffed that she might have thought that he couldn't.

"Wonderful.  We're going now.  We'll probably use the building as a place marker.  It's the only thing around that we can be quasi-familiar with."

"Fine, see you there."  As Peri scooped up Wyvern, Sirius disappeared.  A moment later and the clearing was once more devoid of life.

{Author's Note:  Surprisingly, I wrote this in a time span of two days.  For me that's highly impressive.  All right, down to business.  The lyrics from the song that Peri was singing are from "A New Life" from the musical Jekyll and Hyde.  Awesome musical, by the way.  Everyone should go see it.  Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, John Williams, and Bizet are all classical composers for those of you non-music people.  To who ever planted the ideas about Sirius being freed, I don't whether to hug you or strangle you.  Somehow, Sirius has pushed himself into playing a larger role than expected in this tale.  He originally was just going to be mentioned briefly.  I finally know how this is going to end.  Maybe.  It all depends on what I want to do to Sirius and Peri at the end.  Suggestions are welcome.  Okie-day, that's it.

Hope R. Lee:  Thanks.  I don't have talent.  I just comes from whatever the muses make me type.

*Review!*Review!*Review!*Review!*Review!*Review!*Review!*Review!*Review!*

Peace, Love, Ice Cream, Chocolate, and Tie-Dye, Nataly Ravenlock}


	9. Slight Problems

{Disclaimer:  I own nothing.  It all belongs to the God-like J.K. Rowling}

**Chapter 9**

**Slight Problems**

_**What you've got to do is finish/ What you have begun/ I don't know just how/ But its not over 'til you've won/ You see the storm is coming/ See the lightening cross the sky/ Its too late to run/ There's terror in your eye/ Then you just remember/ These words you heard me say/ It's the storm not you that bound to blow away.  "Hold On" from the musical The __Secret__Garden__ **_

Sirius Apparated for the first time in who knows how many years.  He had forgotten the thrill of having a wand and being able to do magic again.  He arrived in their chosen rendezvous spot: just outside the large castle-like structure.  Sirius noticed two major things.  First, it was freezing and second, they had arrived in the middle of a gigantic blizzard.  He couldn't see much beyond five-feet in front of him.  Peri turned up a few seconds later.

"Its cold out here!" she decided bluntly.

"You're observant," Sirius created a pair of thick down jackets for each of them.  "Let's get a little ways from the castle and wait for the weather to calm down before going in."  Peri nodded at the suggestion.  She grabbed his hand to stay close as Sirius pulled them into the dense forests surrounding the prison.  What seemed to be a clearing was soon reached.  Peri pulled a wizard tent from her pack.  With a flick of her wand it was up.  They entered inside thankful to be out of the weather.

A roaring fireplace decorated one wall, warming the entire cabin.  The walls looked to be made out of wood slats.  A set of bunks, a small couch, and a square table finished off the interior.  On the opposite wall, a dream catcher and a pair of snowshoes hung.  The whistling of the storm could still be heard through the thin, strong walls.

The escaped convicts peeled off the heavy coats, setting them to dry by the fire place.  Wyvern immediately joined the coats, falling into the sleep that cats are famous for.  Peri shivered.

"That was stupid, wasn't it?" she asked no one in particular.

"Yes," Sirius answered.  "It was rather moronic."

She glared at him.  "I wasn't asking you."

Sirius held up his hands to ward her off.  "Calm down there, tiger.  No offense."

"None taken.  You hungry?  I think this thing's completely stocked."

"You thought of everything, didn't you?"

"No.  Professor Dumbledore gave this to me before I left.  He thought I might need it," Peri turned towards a set of cupboards and pulled out a can of soup.  She poured it in a cauldron and stuck it over the fire.  Two mugs were found for when the soup was done.  She went back to rummaging through the cupboards, seeing what else she could find.

Sirius sat in one of the chairs, watching her.  He definitely knew her.  He remembered her tone of voice with just the slight hint of sarcasm.  He remembered her mannerisms, especially the conversations that she held with herself.  She had to be in some part of his mind.  She just had to be.  Now when he would remember her would be another story.

Peri pulled her head out of the cupboard to take the soup of the fire.  She poured it into the ceramic mugs and handed one to Sirius.  "Here, its tomato.  Be careful, it is hot."  She chuckled as Sirius tried to sip it and burned his tongue.  Peri took a seat across from him at the table.  She could see Sirius watching her over the rim of his mug.  His dark eyes seemed to drill into her very soul.  It was as if he was searching for something.  Maybe he was for all she knew.  They finished the soup in silence, each to their own thoughts.  Peri quickly washed the mugs, putting them back where she found them, and continued her investigation of the cupboards.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Sirius asked with his curiosity piqued.

"This," came Peri's muffled reply as she pulled herself out of the storage system.  She held up a deck of cards set proudly.

"You spent all that time looking for a mere deck of cards?"

"Yes, I did."  Peri deposited the package on the table.  She pointed her wand at it, thinking hard.  It shimmered and changed to a larger box.  "Ever play Phase 10?"

Sirius looked at her as if she had grown a few more heads.  "No."

"I'll teach you, that is, if I remember how to play."  She dealt out ten cards each and handed him another card with instructions on it.  "These are the phases that you have to get to move on to the next one.  First one's two sets of three.  You can either draw a card from the discard pile or a card from the stack.  You always have to discard when you are done so you keep the ten card hand.  Wilds count for anything.  First one to get rid of all their cards ends the round.  You can get rid of cards by putting them in the sets that you made or the ones that I made.  You go first, since I dealt."

Sirius looked over his cards.  Two sets of three cards of the same number.  Hmmm…  He drew a card.  "What happens when you have the two sets?"

"You put them down and try to get rid of the rest of your cards.  Try to lose the highest numbers, skips, and wilds; they cost you the most points."

Sirius set down a set of three tens and three sixes.

"Bastard," Peri decided playfully as she set down her two sets.

The game went on, though neither could seem to end the first round by ridding themselves of all their cards.  Spitefully, Peri flung the remaining cards down at the table.  Most of them rebounded to hit Sirius.

"Hey!  That was uncalled for!"

"No, it wasn't.  It was a perfectly acceptable thing to do."

Sirius shook his head.  "Temper, temper."

"No, my temper's fine, thank you very much."  A strong gust of howling wind punctuated her comment.  She stood up to a look out a window built into the tent wall.  It was a wall of bleak white.  "Every second this storm goes on is a second longer that Severus could die.  We can't just sit here and do nothing!"

Sirius stood up and put his arm around Peri's shoulders.  "There's nothing that we can do right now, Peri.  We can't bear this weather without getting ourselves killed in the process much less rescue him."

Peri pulled away from his grasp and flung herself down on the couch.  "I feel useless.  He's locked in a dark dungeon while we have a nice warm tent.  It's torture!"  A tear dripped down her cheek.  "I just can't sit here and wait for the storm to end."

"The storm will end eventually."

"I know it will.  It's the waiting for it to blow away that's the problem."

Sirius stood behind her and began to massage the back of her neck.  He was still the womanizer that he had always been.  His fingers probed the stiff muscles with gentle caresses.  "There is nothing we can do right now." Sirius paused.  "Have you thought about how to get into the castle?"

"No."

"Do you know how many people that are guarding the entrance?"

"No, I don't."

"Do you even know where the entrance is?"

Peri tilted her head to look up at him.  "No.  I understand where you're going with this, Sirius.  I'm not as dense as most people think I am."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, doubting her statement.  "I never said that you were dense, just hasty."

"You implied it.  I realize that we have to plan if we are to succeed.  Any error, however slight it may be, may cause us to fail.  It's a thin line we walk, my friend, a thin line."

Sirius flopped down on the couch next to her.  "So where do we begin?"

Peri turned her head toward him, a sad smile appearing on her lips.  "I just don't know any more.  We shall have to wait and see what happens next, I guess."

The raven haired man grinned back.  There was still something familiar about her that nagged at the back of his mind.  It was something that said he should know who she is, that he should remember her.  There were too many similarities between them for them to be complete strangers.

"And so that's what I think we should do," Peri finished.

Sirius hadn't realized that he had let his mind wander enough for him not to have heard what she had said.  "Can you repeat that?  I lost you for a moment there."

"What I said was that as soon as the storm blows over, we have to first find the entrance or at least an entrance that we can use that is not heavily guarded.  From there, we can find Severus and get him out."

"Right," Sirius decided still distracted by his earlier thoughts.  He was going to force himself to remember who she was.

Peri stared into the flames, letting herself become hypnotized by the dancing flickers.  There was so much that depended on her success, yet it would be almost too easy to let it all go and run away.  She had come too far to let it all fall.  She felt her eyes grow heavy with impending sleep.  There had not been enough sleep for her during the night between the nightmare and running away.  Sleep would be good.  Peri let herself drift into the dark realms of unconsciousness.

She did not feel herself slide down the back of the couch onto Sirius's shoulder.  Sirius put his arm gently around her.  It would be best to let her sleep.  The position felt natural, like they were meant to be together.  Sirius let his mind wander back to his Hogwarts days.  He was certain she had been there with him.

He could picture the bunch of them, just before graduation.  James was there, still alive with his dark, unruly hair and glasses, his arm draped casually around Lily's pale shoulders.  Lily was just as beautiful as he had remembered with her auburn red hair falling halfway down her back.  They had all loved her, he mused.  All of them: him, Remus, Peter, and James, yet James had gotten her.  Lucky him.  Yet was he so lucky?  Remus was standing near James, intelligent golden eyes, hair not yet gone gray, but still combating his eternal curse.  Peter was nearby, looking frightened, his blue, watery eyes filled with fear about something that none of them had known at the time.  It was the fear of his soon to be betrayal.  Then there was him, the carefree womanizer, long black hair, dark eyes joking with them all about some prank that they were going to pull.  All the girls had wanted him, yet he could remember only one that he had ever loved completely.  She was in the picture, too, off to the side.  He could remember that she hated cameras and having her picture taken.  She stood arms crossed, sandy haired with dark eyes that would stare into the depths of his soul.  Yes, that was her.  She was there, too.  She was the same age as Lily, the only other female Gryffindor of their year.  All the others girls had been put in Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.  They had been so different then.

He remembered how Lily and the girl could never be separated though they were almost complete opposites.  Lily was tall, gorgeous, popular, intelligent, and almost perfect.  The other, he still could not remember what she had been called, had the same intelligence, maybe more so, yet was a loner.  In her own way, she had been beautiful.  It wasn't the beauty of a face, but the beauty of personality.  She had never been popular because people for some reason naturally despised her.  It probably helped that she had the record for the most fights gotten into at Hogwarts.  Not that she minded, but she was an outcast none the less.  The Marauders had taken her in, not out of pity, but from the fact that she was a rebel and a plotter, like them.  She was the one who could get their pranks to work.

Sirius remembered her clearly now.  They had been friends, close friends.  She had been there for him when his father had died.  There was not much she wanted in exchange for the support except a friend.  He had been her friend, maybe closer to her than Lily ever had been.  Then he had lost her and forgotten about her until this moment.

It was the name that irked him the most.  He knew that there had to be a rightful designation to go along with her face, yet his mind blanked out when he tried to contemplate it.  She had been a tom-boy, so it wasn't a girly name, he remembered.  Mary, Susie, or Jane just would not be her.  No, she wasn't a frilly dress kind of person.  It was more of a tougher, darker personality.  Sirius could remember the first time they had met.  It was an image that stuck clearly in his mind.

_He had known no one on the Hogwarts Express and had been searching for an empty compartment that he could relax in.  As he walked down the corridor, he had heard some shouting and a few thuds.  Being the person he was, he had gone to investigate.  Some older Slytherins had her cornered, yet she was fighting them like a feral tiger.  Sirius remembered watching her from the shadows as she slugged their leader across the face giving him a bloody nose and a black eye.  After a time, the Slytherins had simply gave up and walked away._

_"Are you all right?" he had asked her, stepping over to where she sat on the floor._

_"I'm perfectly fine," she snapped, obviously in some pain.  "Now, go away, unless you want me to take you on as well."_

_"I was only trying to help."_

_"I don't need anyone's help.  Who are you any ways?"_

_"I'm Sirius, Sirius Black."_

_She had said something as she introduced her self with a handshake, but there was no recollection as to what is was.  For all he knew, it could have been anything._

There had been other memories of her.  He could see her being sorted and the hat, which had been as dilapidated then as it was now, loudly crying out "GRYFFINDOR!"  There were fights that she had been in and the people that she had sent to the hospital wing from her fists.  There was an image of her sneaking into the library late at night to find information for some strange project.  There was one image of her in a deep argument with the old Potions Master about something dealing with mixing herbs together and what would happen.  She had been astute in potions, he could remember that much.  She always could be found in the either the potions dungeons or the library. Yet it was her name that would be the death of him.  Until he remembered what it was, he would not fully know who she was now and who she had been.  Eventually, he would recall it.  He knew he would.

Sirius looked down at Peri's now darker hair.  She squirmed slightly, to find a more comfortable position on his shoulder.  For her, he would find out who she was.  He let his eyes close.  As he drifted back to sleep, a last conversation came to his mind.

_"No!  You can't let them take me!  I didn't do anything wrong.  I found it!  Sirius!"_

_He had been held back by James and Remus as she was taken away.  There was nothing he could have done.  In his heart, he knew that she had done nothing, yet why they had taken her was another matter.  "No!  You can't do this to me!" he sobbed quietly, supported by his two friends.  He fell limply against Remus's shoulder.  "Andy…" he whispered._

Sirius slept soundly, his roguish grin still on his lips.  He knew who she was now.  He remembered everything.

{Author's Note:  I wanted to let you guys know that I am an idiot.  I was climbing trees barefooted in shorts and a tank top and succeeded in falling out of one.  My right leg is all marked up with an interesting collection of scrapes, along with my left elbow.  I found it quite amusing.  I also succeeded in pulling a muscle in my jaw, though I have no clue in how I did that.  I've concluded from this that the world enjoys inflicting me with pain.  The entire Phase 10 thing is an inside joke.  I was at a summer camp.  It was around three in the morning.  My friends and I were attempting to play Phase 10 and ended up getting into a huge card fight.  Needless to say, it turned into a laughing fest.

Anna Black:  You can be as enthusiastic as you would like.  I'm glad you like the new name of the cat.  Smirks You almost have it, but don't worry.  I have a handful of twisted ideas on what will happen and has happened to Peri and Sirius.  Oh, and in response to your profile message that states Hayden Christensen is hot, he most definitely is.  My friend bought a life size cut out of him as Ani and we were drooling over him.

Josie:  A bit odd?  This is me that we're talking about.  Actually, it was a four day weekend and I was really bored, except for Monday which involved us marching in wool uniforms in 80 degree weather.

Jackie:  I could be going cow tipping or tractor riding instead of writing.

Thanks to all who read and review my tale.  Next chapter will be Snape's break out.  Be scared.  Be very scared.  Peace, Love, Ice Cream, and Chocolate, Nataly Ravenlock}


	10. Dangerous Game

{Disclaimer:  I own nothing.  The entire Harry Potter World belongs to J.K. Rowling.}

**Chapter 10**

**Dangerous Game**

_** I am losing my mind, I am losing control/ Fighting feelings I can't define/ It's a sin with no name/ No remorse and no shame/ Fire, fury, and flame/ Cause the devil's to blame/ And the angels proclaim/ It's a dangerous game… ** "Dangerous Game" from the musical "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." **_

Pale winter light shone bright through the window.  Peri scrunched her eyes further shut.  She shifted her position, feeling a solid pillow beneath her head.  She didn't remember having a pillow.  Her eyes groggily opened.  Sirius…  She swore under her breath.  She had just met a nice man and already she was sleeping on him.  Great first impressions.

Sirius watched Peri's eyes slowly open and a look of surprise unfurl across her face.  "Were you comfortable?"

Peri gasped.  She hadn't realized that he was awake yet.  "Quite, actually, Thank you very much."

Sirius grinned as she untangled herself from underneath his arm.  "You used to do that a lot, you know."

"What?"

"I said that you used to do that all the time.  I think I knew you, Peri.  I think I know who you are."

"Oh," Peri realized she wasn't in much of hurry to find out who she truly was.  She had become a new person in the past few months and wasn't certain that she wanted to resort back to her old self, who ever that may be.  There were other things on her mind, like Severus…  "Just wait.  Tell me later.  The storm's gone and we have a castle to break into."

"Before breakfast?"

Men…  "Fine.  You can go find something to eat.  I'm going to get together what we need."

Sirius rooted through the cupboards, finding a loaf of bread and a pot of jam.  It would do for now.  Peri stomped back into his view, arms piled with a load of miscellaneous objects that were thrown on the floor.  She was dressed in a way that reminded him of an Oriental samurai, completely in black.  Sirius munched on his sandwich, watching her as she wrapped a thin cord around her waist.  A handful of daggers were stuck in places on her person.  A sheathed sword was attached across her back.

"What are you doing with a sword?"

"The Death Eaters will be expecting an attack by magic if anything.  Physical sharp objects will give us a slight advantage."

"Right."  Sirius was ready to seriously doubt her mental health, but if Peri was who he thought she was, she knew what she was doing.

"Here.  This pile's yours.  Do you know how to use them?"

Sirius swallowed the remains of the jelly sandwich, wiping his palms on his tattered robe.  He grabbed the proffered blade and swung it around a few time.  Peri ducked as it neared her head.

"Marvelous.  Now put it away before you remove my head.  And take off that bilious thing," she pointed to his robe.  "It won't help to hide us much."

"You want me to strip, woman?"  Sirius had the satisfaction of watching Peri's face turn a shade of bright magenta.

"Bastard," she hissed jokingly at him.  "You enjoy this, don't you?"

"Of course I do.  Would you expect anything less?"

"Probably not."

Sirius relaced his new black boots, tucking a dagger in one.  A few more blades hid themselves in other places.  "Are we ready?"

Peri patted a few pockets.  Her stomach fluttered nervously.  "No.  We need our official Death Eater cloaks."  She tossed one to him.  "Now, we're ready," she decided resolutely.  "Let us depart."

They left the tent standing.  Both held the feeling that it would be needed later when they returned, if they returned.  Wyvern had roused herself from her beauty rest, meandering outside behind them.  Without the terrible wind, it was still cold, but bearable.  Peri lead the way, feet crunching through the harden crust of snow.  Wyvern sniffed distastefully at the wetness.

"Peri, you do have a plan, right?"

"Maybe."

"May I ask what it is?"

"Sure, go right ahead."

"What's your plan?"

"We find a way into the castle, find Severus, and bring him back."

"Could you get any more complex?" questioned Sirius sarcastically.

"I probably could if I really wanted to."

The castle loomed drearily nearby, just out of the forest.  The entrance was unguarded, just as expected.

"Let me guess, you just want to walk right in?" Sirius asked.

"You're being psychic again.  I figure that if we act like we're supposed to be there, they'll ignore us.

"And if they don't ignore us?"

"We kill them."

Sirius muttered something about Peri being a cocky little bitch.  Peri chose to ignore the comment.  It was the truth, any how.  She approached the castle doors and rapped her knuckles against the hard wood.  A peek hole creaked open.  "Yes?"  The voice sounded as rickety as the wood.

"We are here to perform some special interrogation with the prisoner," Peri spoke crisply and concisely, like it was the truth.

"We were not informed of this."

"The Master asked us specifically for assistance."  She had her cloak thrown back far enough so that the sword handle could be seen easily.  "I can assure you that my partner and I are fully qualified in our arts."

The eyes in the hole bulged slightly.  The door creaked open, allowing them entrance.  Sirius was having a difficult time keeping a straight face beneath his hood.  How the hell had she managed that?

A dark guard emerged from the shadows.  "Follow me."  The torches flickered eerily, casting obscure figures on the stony façade.  They were lead down a flight of twisted stairs to a dark corner of a damp basement.  The guard produced a key and opened the solid wood door.  The dim light flooded in, outlining a hunched body in tattered rags.

"I shall leave you to your work.  Be sure he stays alive." the guard spoke to them, leaving the way that he had come.

"We shall," Peri stated blandly, throwing a shift kick into the prisoner's ribs.  A muffled groan escaped his lips.

Sirius was almost pleased with Snape's state.  He knew the bastard would have to be broken down eventually.  Beneath the cool, evil exterior, Snape was still human after all.  How surprising.  Not many people expected the Slytherin to be human.  Sirius felt no pity for him.  He had gone through similar things in Azkaban, if not worse.

Peri stepped around the fallen Slytherin, kneeling down in front of him, taking his head upon her lap.  Sirius felt a twinge of jealousy.  He was a territorial person and Peri had been his at one point in life.  She whispered softly so only Snape could hear.  "Severus, we are here to help you."

Out in the corridor, guarding the cell, Sirius cursed loudly.  Peri rushed out, sword drawn in one hand, wand in the other.  "What the bloody hell?"

"_STUPEFY!" an Auror in the hall shouted.  Peri dodged the curse coming at her.  She swung at him with her sword.  The Auror soon lost his right arm.  Another Auror roared the same curse.  This time it made contact.  Peri flew backwards into a wall, collapsing in a silent heap on the floor.  Sirius was nearby in a similar state.  The remaining Aurors walked into the cell, dragging Snape out into the open.  They didn't bother to check left forearms.  The three that they had captured looked enough like Death Eaters to be so.  One had chopped off the arm of one of their men; the other had injured two of them with throwing knives.  They didn't know about the third, but he looked suspicious._

Peri awoke with a pounding headache.  She could tell she was on a cold floor.  An image of spurting blood from a stump of a limb entered her mind.  She swore to herself for the second time that day, though this experience was much less pleasant than waking up from sleeping on Sirius.  Peri twisted her neck to get the kinks out and looked around.  The room was a white, seamless cube.  There were no windows and no sign of any door.  Everything was completely blank.  Peri sat on the floor pulling her knees to her chest, waiting for what was yet to come.  It didn't seem like she belong there, completely in black.  She was a mar in the perfection.

A wall slide open.  Two masked guards stepped inside grabbing her by her shoulders.  Peri let herself be pulled along the corridor, not feeling much like walking, yet not wanting to cooperate until she knew where she was and who these people were.  They dragged her down a corridor into another room.  This one was darker, less pristine.  She could see Sirius seated against a far wall.  The guards threw her into a chair, binding her hands and legs so she couldn't move.  Thankfully there was no gag involved.

"Any thing you say or do can and will be held against you," a man in a dark maroon robe spoke in a clipped sharp tone.  "You have been captured on a raid of a Death Eaters Prison.  The two of you have the charges of associating with the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort."

Peri's eyes wandered over to where Sirius was tied.  She could see the look of dread in his eyes.  Both of them were in trouble.  They had escaped and had bee caught again.  They would pay for it dearly with their lives.

"How do you plead to these charges?"

Peri immediately spoke.  "I plead not guilty!"

"On what account?"

"I can provide an alibi to the reason that I was there at the prison."

"Who do you call for your alibi?"

"I call upon Professor Albus Dumbledore."

"Very well.  We shall look into that."  The man scribbled a few notes on a piece of paper.

"I plead not guilty," Sirius spoke up soon after, less enthusiastic than his counter part.

"On what account?"

"I can also provide an alibi from Professor Dumbledore as to the reason why I was at the prison."

The man again scribbled a few illegible notes.  "We shall look into that as well.  Now I need your names, occupations, and current addresses to be put on record."

The two shared a dark, nervous look.  Here was when the problems would begin.  Trouble was brewing like an overheated cauldron ready to foam over the rim.

"I plead the fifth," Peri decided stubbornly.

The man sighed.  "This is not the United States."

"Damn," Peri began again, this time much more slowly.  "It would be easier for both of us if our names were with held."

"Why?"

"Security reasons."

"Security reasons?"

"Yes, security reasons.  We are people who you really don't want to know who we are."

"Right.  Tell me another story."  The man had dealt with lunatics before.

"No, sir, I am being completely serious.  You don't want to know who we are.  It would save all of us a lot of trouble."

"Fine.  Then what are your occupations?" he sounded quite bored.

The confined duo shared another look.

"Currently, I am unemployed," Sirius spoke softly, hoping somehow his true identity would not be revealed.

"I am an assistant Potions Mistress at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Likely story."

The door to the room crashed open.  A young lackey rushed in, dragging an older pompous looking Ministry man in a bowler hat behind him.  "See, sir, he's right there!  I told you we had him!  He's right there!  It's Sirius Black!"

"Uh-oh," Peri mouthed.  Sirius's face made stone look soft.

The interrogator turned and looked at Sirius.  "Are you Sirius Black?"

How easy it would be to just say no and give a fake name.  Yet Gryffindor morality held through.  He would have to admit to who he was.  He would have to hope that Dumbledore and the others could prove his innocence.  Yet who could?  Peter was with the Death Eaters, presumably missing.  Remus knew and Dumbledore knew, yet were there any eye witnesses?  He didn't know.  Sirius took a deep breath to still himself.  "Yes, I am."

"Then if you are Sirius Black, who might you be?" he turned toward Peri.

"Um… a fellow Azkaban escapee," she decided brightly, realizing once again how difficult life could be when you did not know who you were.

"Andromeda Josephine McGee," Sirius whispered.  The name cut straight through Peri's ears.  It was like an ax upon a rope that brought down the drawbridge holding in her memories.  She gasped, eyes rolling up into her head and the world went black.

{Author's Note:  Just to let y'all know, I got an accordion now!  I was playing parts of the songs from Harry Potter on it!  I have the piano selections for it.  Y'all can go run and hide now.  Be scared.  Be very scared.  I also have my own clarinet now, so that makes things equally fun and amusing.

Agent 99: Thanks.  I like Snape.  He's so much fun.

Will any of you just please review this???  I really want to know if anyone out there actually likes this!!! Anyone who chooses not to review shall be attacked by my Pixie cat, who shall purr you to death.  Thanks!  Carpe Carpem and Peace, Love, Ice Cream, and Chocolate, Nataly Ravenlock}


	11. Memories

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling.  I don't own Sirius.  I don't own Hermione, Harry, Ron, or Draco.  I don't, unfortunately, own Professor Snape, either.  I do, however, own Esperenza Lynx (A.K.A. Peri, Pit bull, and Andromeda Josephine McGee), Wyvern, and a rather nice multicolored pair of tie-dyed socks.}

{This entire chapter is flash backs of Peri's life, just to warn you.}

**Chapter 11**

**Memories**

_**Memory/ All alone in the moonlight/ I can smile at the new day/ I was beautiful then/ I remember a time I knew what happiness was/ Look a new day has begun/ Burnt out ends of smoky days/ The stale, cold smell of morning/ A streetlamp dies/ Another night is over/ Another day is dawning.  "Memory" from Cats**_

**_**FLASH**  _**

"Andromeda Josephine McGee, you are not going to this devil school!"

"Mother, it doesn't matter much.  It still says that I'm a witch."

"It says that you are spawn of the devil, that's what it damn well says!  No one is my household will be conned into that rubbish!  We're God fearing people here!"

"It doesn't change who I am."

"Then out with you, beast!  I don't want to see your cursed face in this house ever again!"

"Mother?"

"You heard me!  Out with you, before I call the coppers on you, spawn of Satan!"

Andy raced up the stairs to her room, throwing a quick change of clothes, her toothbrush, what money she had, and her favorite pocket knife into a small duffle bag.  She pulled on an over-sized sweatshirt and rushed outside, slamming the door loudly behind her.

Her brother had caught up with her when she had gotten halfway down the block.  "Andy, you can't just leave."

"You want to see try?  What does it look like I'm doing?"

"You're eleven."

"So?  What difference does it make, Ben?  Mom and Dad aren't going to take me back.  They've already proclaimed me to be works of the devil," Andy chuckled grimly.  "I can survive.  Let me go to this Hogwarts place.  I can make my own life."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"I'll come back, Ben.  Don't worry about me."

"Do you need a ride anywhere?"

Andy looked down at the envelope that was clenched tightly in her fist.  "King's Cross Station.  I can walk."

"I have my bike parked right on the corner.  Let me take you."

"Fine."

Ben had driven her on his flame colored motorcycle to King's Cross.  Andy had wandered through the crowds, wondering what she was going to do.  The letter said something about Platform 9 ¾ but she had never heard of such a thing.

"Don't worry about it, dear, just walk right through the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10.  Your father and I did the same thing when we were your age.  How I miss Hogwarts."  A frumpy middle aged woman was speaking quietly to a short, mousy haired boy.  "Go ahead, Peter, it will be fine."  The boy walked right through the barrier.

Andy gasped.  She couldn't believe what she had just seen.  Then it occurred to her that the woman had spoken about Hogwarts.  That was where she was headed.  Right through the barrier she ran.  It was like running through thin mud.  The other side revealed a train.  "The Hogwarts Express," she read quietly to herself, staring wide eyed.  She was in the right place.

Someone came up behind her.  "Are you Andromeda J. McGee?"

Andy turned toward the young man behind her.  "Who wants to know?"

The man took it as a yes.  "The Head Master instructed me to tell you that your supplies and robes are already for you in the train.  Your grandfather was nice enough to donate supplies for you."

"Oh.  Thank you."  The train whistle blew, signaling that departure was eminent.  Andy boarded the train alone.  She found herself in an empty compartment.  The trees outside the window sped by like painted streaks of green.  A single tear trickled down her cheek.

"Hey you!  Get out of our compartment!" a mean looking boy, older than herself screamed at the eleven year old.

"I don't see your name anywhere on it."

"I said get out and when I say get out, you better be leaving as fast as you can."

Andy had enough happen to her in the past day.  She was in no mood to move.  "What if I don't want to?"

"I don't care if you want to or not, you're leaving!"  The boy picked her up by the ragged collar of her sweatshirt and threw her out the door.  "That'll teach you, you little punk."  His sleeves were pushed back, hairy forearms showing.  Andy stood up, brushing off her tattered jeans.

"No."

"You don't learn easily, do you?"  He held up his fist in front of her face.  "I'll give you a good reason to leave."

She pushed it away like one removing an irksome fly.  "That's not a good reason.  I could think of better."

"So could I!" the Slytherin hit her hard in the midsection.  Andy grunted and somehow kept herself standing.  He hit again on the side of her head.  "Take that, bitch!  I'll teach you to mess with me!"

"You really ought to learn how to teach people better," Andy quickly raised both fists, hitting him with one in the nose and the other in his left eye like a flash of lightning.

The tall Slytherin grimaced. "Come on.  This midget isn't worth our time."

Andy watched them walk away and slumped down to the floor.  Her temper would eventually get the best of her.  It had hurt, but she had survived.  She was a survivor after all.

"Are you all right?" a tall raven haired boy asked her cautiously, stepping over to where she sat on the floor.  Being the person he was, he had heard the shouting and came to investigate.

"I'm perfectly fine," Andy snapped, obviously in some pain.  "Now, go away, unless you want me to take you out as well."

"I was only trying to help," the boy held both his hands out in front of him as if to ward off her wrath.

"I don't need anyone's help.  Who are you any ways?"

"I'm Sirius, Sirius Black."

Andy pushed herself off the floor.  "Andromeda McGee, you can call me Andy."  They shook hands, not knowing it was the first meeting of many.

**_**FLASH**_**

"McGee, Andromeda."

Andy approached the stool warily.  The worn Sorting Hat was placed on her head.  It had obviously seen better days, or maybe better years.  "Ah, what have we here?  A McGee?  How interesting.  I haven't seen one of you since your grandfather was here.  You are much like him, the same stubbornness, headstrong, intelligent, yes, I know just where to place you.  GRYFFINDOR!"

Andy walked up to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Sirius.  He grinned lopsidedly.  They had talked a good amount on the train ride.  In the end, there were six new Gryffindors: Sirius Black, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin, Andromeda McGee, Peter Pettigrew, and James Potter.

**_**FLASH**_**

It was years later, graduation night.  James and Sirius had raided the kitchens for a midnight celebration.  Butterbeer, éclairs, and other tasty treats were piled in the common room.

"To the best graduation class in all of Hogwarts' history," James raised his mug high.  Five others came up to clink it.  

"Here, here!" Peter was already quite toasty.

"Except for Snape," Sirius added jovially.

"I stand corrected. For the best graduating class in Hogwarts' history except for Severus Snape," James corrected.

"May we always stick together in whatever the future holds for us," Lily added.

"Where ever we may be, let us always remember each other," Remus put in.

"And never forget the legacy that we leave here tonight," Andy finished.

"To the Marauders!" James lifted up his mug again.

"To the Marauders!" Everyone else shouted.

**_**FLASH**_**

The room was well lit by a row of lights strung across the ceiling.  Andy stood near a great cauldron, stirring carefully her mixture.  She added a pinch of wormwood and watched the color swirl to a brilliant green.  A gasp escaped her lips.  That was what was supposed to happen!  Of all the times that she had tried before, this had never happened.  The potion had worked perfectly.  She scratched out what she had used on a piece of worn parchment that had seen better times.  A simple spell was cast to keep it hidden from the watchful eyes.  It was dangerous times and what she had found made it all more dangerous for her.

**_**FLASH**_**

The door bell rang persistently.  "I'm coming!" shouted a rather perturbed Andy as she tried to put an earring in.  She opened the door.  Sirius stood on the step, dressed in black leather.  He held out a bouquet of flowers to her as she ushered him inside.

"Thanks, Sirius," she grinned mischievously, kissing him deeply.  The flowers were forgotten on the front table as the two left the flat on Sirius's motorcycle.

They arrived at the Muggle bar-restaurant.  James's car was already parked in front.  That meant that he and Lily were definitely here.  Remus had probably hitched with them and Peter would show up eventually.  Andy and Sirius walked inside hand in hand.  The other four Gryffindors were already seated around a large table.

"Oy, what took you so long?" James cracked merrily.

"You know, the usually," Sirius answered slyly, sliding into a seat.  Andy sat by his side.

"Right," James nodded.  "We already ordered for you all of us."

"Six without for the lot of us?"

"Yep."

The Muggle bar was famous for their fresh roast beef sandwiches, with or without onions.  It also had a large selection of (quote, unquote) adult beverages.  A waitress brought the order to the table, placing a sandwich in front of each one.  "Enjoy!" she perkily told them, winking at the men folk.

Lily scowled back.  Andy laughed at her.  "Calm down, Lily, she wouldn't take James away from you though as much as he would have enjoyed it…"

James shot her a dark look, though he laughed along with it.  Sirius, Peter, and Remus were discussing the current Quidditch statistics.  James turned away from his female counterparts to the sports.  The girls shook their heads at each other.  Men were all alike.

They talked the rest of the night, laughing, drinking, joking around like old times.  It was a perfect scene.  Everyone was happy.  No one was missing.  It was just like old times at Hogwarts.  The bartended finally had to force them out given the early hour of the morning.

The six Gryffindors staggered outside.  Lily, who had managed to keep a level head through the entire ordeal, cast a quick charm to take away the alcoholic influence.  "You never learn, do you?"

"No, we don't."  Remus answered.  "Or at least they don't.  Lycanthropy gives me higher tolerance to that kind of stuff.  Them on the other hand…"  He nodded over to where Sirius, James, and Andy were still chatting merrily.  Peter hung off to the side like he always did, hands is pocket, watching.

A police car pulled up into the parking lot and a cop climbed out.  "You kids should be leaving.  The bar is closed."

"Aw, come on, ossifer, just one more?" Andy's voice cracked, merrily sounding drunker than she was though she was completely sober.

"Andy, shut your trap," Sirius spoke admonishingly.

She looked pleadingly at him with large puppy eyes.  "Fine."

"What can we do for you, sir?" Remus asked politely, taking control of the situation.

"Completely nothing," he gestured into the car.  Another officer stepped out, grabbing Andy by the shoulders.

"You are under arrest."

"Why?"

"You have plotted with the Dark Lord." 

"I did nothing of the sort!" 

"It doesn't matter."  

They had placed her in handcuffs, walking her to the car.  James and Remus held Sirius back.  Without them he would have run after her.  He would have tried to save her.  In his heart, he knew she did nothing, but there was nothing he could do about it. "Andy!" he screamed.  She was innocent.

The first police officer pulled a wand out from his belt.  He obviously wasn't a Muggle like he seemed.  "_STUPEFY!"_

The remaining Marauders froze, falling to the ground in crumpled heaps.  Sirius whispered one word as he fell into the depths of unconsciousness.  "Andy…"

{Author's Note:  Okay, that clears up a few things.  I still don't see why you people aren't reading this.  Oh, well.  That's your problem.  As for the restaurant, it was modeled after a place called Clark's Ale House, which serves fresh carved roast beef sandwiches on toasted onion rolls that taste awesome with a bit of horseradish.  I'm salivating now.  I'm going to crave one for the next week.

Josie:  Is that all you have to say?  gasp!

Peace, Love, and Duct Tape, Nataly Ravenlock}


	12. Duel of the Fates

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World is owned by J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers.  I own only the figments of my imagination that are not part of the original books.}

{Just to warn you, Snape, Sirius, and Andy end up in the same room, so beware…}

{A/N:  "Duel of the Fates" is a song written by John Williams for Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.  It is played during the light saber fight between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul.  For some reason, it kept going through my head the entire time I was writing this chapter.  It seemed to fit.}

Chapter 12

Duel Of The Fates

**Close your eyes and hope that no one else will see/ Realize exactly what you'll never be/ This time the curtain's landing on you/ So damned, I'm gonna see this come true.** "Blind" by Default, off the Spider–Man soundtrack**

       Snape opened his eyes.  The cell had changed, but he was still imprisoned.  He lay on a small cot, hands on his chest.  He could still feel the pain in them.  The Death Eaters had done it just to torture him.  They knew without his hands, he was nothing.

       They had come into his cell and tied him to a rough board.  Every one of his fingers had been snapped, every tendon is his hand cut.  They had made them useless.  He could feel the agony slowly ebbing away like waves upon an ocean beach.  He could see them wrapped in bandages.  Obviously, someone had taken him away from the Death Eaters.  The followers of Voldemort would have simply tried to break him even more than he was.  Someone had saved him, but who?

       A stocky guard clicked open the lock on the door.  Snape sat up, watching expectantly, dark eyes blazing.  His bandaged hands lay in front of him, useless as blocks of wood.  "Can you walk?" the guard barked.  He waved his wand at Snape's hands.  The bandages wound off, revealing the appendages to be whole.

       Snape stood up.  He had lost none of his natural fluidness from his imprisonment.  

       "Follow me."

       Snape followed the guard down a long corridor, letting his thoughts wonder.  He recognized the building as the Ministry of Magic Justice Department.  He had been here before many years in the past when he had first changed sides.  They had locked him in a similar cell, given him a trial, and set him free on the account that he would be spying on the Dark Lord.  The guard opened another door and gestured for Snape to enter.

       "How precious," Snape drawled sarcastically as he took in the scene before him.  Andy had her head on Sirius's shoulder, weeping softly.  Sirius was doing his best to comfort her, patting her awkwardly on the back.  "Two Gryffindors sharing the same fate."

       "Sod off, Snape," Sirius snapped.

       Andy's head snapped up as she leapt out of Sirius's arms.  "You!" she spat at him.

       "Me?" Snape had no idea of anything that had just happened to her.

       "You bastard!  You troglodytic monstrosity!  You pathetic excuse for a yellow bellied river toad!  You thick-witted, brainless spawn of a demon!  You parasitic, idiotic slime ball weasel!  You dirty, greasy, stone hearted son of a bitch!  You just had to come and ruin my life, didn't you asshole?"

       "Are you finished?" Snape kept a straight face, still unaware of where the entire tirade was coming from.  Sirius, on the other hand, had mirthful tears streaming down his face from seeing his worst enemy being insulted with some most interesting phrases.  He wanted to know where 'yellow bellied river toad' came from.

       "No.  You're a moron, Snape." Andy turned and stalked back to Sirius.  The guard had left, leaving the three of them locked into one tiny room.

       "May I ask the reason for your tirade?" Snape kept himself relaxed.  Words could never hurt him…

       Sirius might have had to give the slimy git of a Slytherin something for being able to keep his calm cool exterior after being completely chewed out by Andy, but he didn't.

       "No, you may not." Andy contented herself to simply glare.

       Snape took a seat on a bench against the far wall, farthest from the two Gryffindors.  Obviously, the two of them had been his rescuers.  That would be the only plausible explanation that Peri would be here.  Black on the other hand had probably been stupid enough to get himself caught.

       "You came after me, didn't you, Peri?"

       "It's Andy.  My name is Andromeda McGee.  You should remember quite well, Severus," she smirked maliciously, conjuring up memories of beating up Snape.  "And yes, it was my moronic idea to try and save you."

       "It was obviously a failure."  Snape's mind stirred at the name.  He noticed that her hair had faded back to its normal blond color and her skin had paled.  Andromeda McGee…  The name brought a face to his mind.  She was the same had been in the same year as he had and his only major competition in Potions.  That would explain much.  That might explain why she had snapped at him.  The old Gryffindor verses Slytherin rivalry had come back string, especially with Black here.  "Your Gryffindor obtuseness ruined everything, didn't it?"

       Black eyed him dangerously.  "You are not omnipotent, Snape, no matter how hard you try or what you think you are."

       Andy cut him off, not wanting to two at each other's throats as amusing as it would be.  "No, some pack of Aurors found the building.  We were caught guilty by association.  So if you hadn't went FUBAR, we would all be quite a lot more content." FUBAR is an acronym for Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition

       "I did what I could.  I don't suppose you could have done any better."

       "I probably could have," Andy sneered.

       "You mean your obtuseness wouldn't have gotten in the way?"

       "You don't realize what we did for you, do you, Snape?" Sirius spoke up.  It was obviously going to be a two against one argument about nothing.

       "And what did you do for me, Black, other than try to kill me?"

       "The thought did occur to me to take you miserable life when I had the chance.  It would have saved us all from quite a lot of suffering."

       "Oh really?  And I supposed your little girl friend stopped you?"

       Andy stomped angrily over to the Slytherin, grapping him by the neck of the robes he wore.  "I did not stop him.  And he will not stop me if I do this."  Andy slapped Snape on his left cheek, straight across his large hooked nose.

       "That was uncalled for."  He grabbed her wrist as she turned away.

       "Let go of me."

       "Not until you apologize."

       "And why would you deserve an apology?  After what you've implied?  Never."  Andy turned back around, hitting him with the other fist.  Snape's long fingers grabbed her other wrist as her stood up.  The Slytherin towered over her, like a dark serpent.  Yet Andy was a lion through and through.  She kicked him straight in the midsection.  Snape's grip didn't loosen enough to pull her hands away as he fell backwards to the ground.  Andy flew over him, somersaulting forward as he let go of her wrists.  She sprung up into a crouch.  Sirius sprung off the wooden bench.

       Snape pulled himself off the ground dusting off his robes as it the contact with the mere Gryffindor had sullied them.  "Temper, temper, Gryffindor.  Maybe you should have been a Slytherin with all that anger."

       "She's not a slimy sleaze ball like you," Sirius spat back.

       "Is that all you can think of to insult me, Black?"

       "I can think of better," Sirius glared.  "You deserve the only the worst."

       "Why thank you.  I didn't know you cared."

       "Snape, shut up," Andy interjected.  She knew that if these two started anything, one of them was bound to get badly hurt.

       "What, McGee?  Worried that I might hurt your boyfriend and you'll have to stand up for him?"

       "No.  I'm worried that the two of you will kill each other before I can have a chance to do so."

       "You would want to kill me, wouldn't you?  Typical Gryffindor, wanting to stand up for moral revenge, yet can't kill me because of the high moral values."

       Sirius didn't bother retorting.  Morals were useless at this point in time.  He was pissed as it was for more reasons than one.  He grabbed Snape by his collar and flung him to the ground.  A hard fist was planted in the Slytherins midsection, followed by another.  Another strike hit Snape straight in his large obnoxious nose.  Snape latched onto Sirius with his long fingers.  The fight went back and forth with strikes and punches thrown, kicks planted, and general chaos occurring.

       Andy watched, chewing on her bottom lip, not sure of what to do.  It was interesting to watch a battle of testosterone driven men, but she probably should stop it before someone got hurt.  It was too late to do that.  She could see blood dripping from Snape's nose.  Sirius didn't seem much better and was favoring his right arm.  The Slytherin had his long tapered fingers wrapped around Sirius's neck in an attempt to choke him.  Sirius was pinning Snape to the floor, pushing himself out of his reach.  The men rolled across the floor highly intent on killing the other or at least hurting him badly.  Severus pushed Black of him with a solid double kick to the solar plexus.  Both flew backwards across the floor, crashing into opposing walls.

       Snape wiped his bleeding nose with a corner of his robe.  Sirius sat opposite, glaring with one arm held against his mid section.  It was going to be another endless staring contest.

       Andy silently cursed male dominance hormones.  "Testosterone driven males.  Why can't the two of you just get along for once?"

       "And you seem to think that you get along as well?" Snape removed the cloth to check if it was still bleeding.  It was.

       "You deserved every word I said to you."

       "What did I do to deserve it?"

       "You messed up everything."

       "Can you be anymore specific?"

       "No.  You just messed up everything.  Without you, we wouldn't be here in this disaster.  We wouldn't be threatened with being returned to Azkaban.  Though the Dementors are gone to the Dark Lord, it is still a worse than horrible place.  You don't understand what we went through there!  It's a living hell, Severus.  It's worse than a living hell.  Everyday, you relive your worst nightmares.  They play over and over in your head until it is all you can think about.  Then you slowly loose touch with reality, living only in a world of torture and despair for the rest of your life."

       "And you blame this on me?"

       "Yes."

       "Did you ever think that I could be sharing the same fate or are you too dense to think about any one save yourself?"

       Andy shot him a look that if it could, would kill.  "You won't.  The Ministry already cleared you.  You're their spy, their contact with Voldemort.  They wouldn't imprison you.  You're free to go.  They need you.  They don't need us.  We're expendable.

       Snape raised a neat eyebrow.  "You've spent time thinking about this, haven't you?"

       "Yes.  As far as I can tell, we're both doomed to either be imprisoned for life or die and you get to go free."

       "Rather optimistic are we?"

       "I was going for Murphy."

       "Murphy?"

       "If anything can go wrong, it will."

       "I'd say that is about correct."

       "So would I," Sirius croaked.  Snape's last kick had knocked the wind out of him.  It was one of the few things he agreed with Snape on.  Things were messed up and he had a feeling they were not going to get much better.

       A door opened on the far end of the wall.  "Snape, Severus, McGee, Andromeda, and Black, Sirius, please enter the court."  There was a slight pause before the last name.  Sirius's name still held fear in some people.

       Snape lead the way, head held high.  He had no reason to fear.  Andy had been right.  The Ministry needed him.  He was or had been high enough in Voldemort's circles to be of use to them.  He wasn't certain about his standings now, but over all he was too important to simply lock away.

       Andy came next, glaring at everyone who met her eyes.  They knew who she was now.  A sliver in the back of her mind was doubtful of the outcome.  There was the sense that hit her like a hammer.  She was going to die.

       Sirius came last, shoulders slumped is disgrace.  He had escaped before the Death Eaters had taken Azkaban.  The Ministry had reason to punish him.  He knew that he was innocent.  He could prove it.  Remus might help, if he was here.  And Peter…  Peter had the answers.  Peter had done it, for gods' sakes.  Where was that slimy rat when he was needed?  Sirius knew his fate would be death or something worse.  No one could save him.

{Author's Note:  That was interesting.  The first half of the chapter was written after I had a cup of chocolate cherry coffee.  The other half was written after I had gotten back from a dentist appointment.  Life's strange sometimes.

My characters wish to explain their actions.  Andy says that she's not sorry for calling Snape a "yellow bellied river toad" and wishes to add that he is a jackass when he wants to be just because he is a Slytherin.  Sirius agrees with Andy and has no regrets of trying to beat him up.  Snape just wants to kill both Gryffindors for the sake that they are Gryffindors.  He also wants to explain that he really is not a nice guy and doesn't care if people hate him.  He's used to it.

AlyssaC7:  I'm glad you like it so far.  See what you get for AIMing me?  You get to put up with me!  Don't you regret it now?

Eso es eso.  I'm out…  Carpe Carpem, Nataly Ravenlock}


	13. Point of No Return

{Disclaimer:  Harry Potter is owned by the Omnipotent J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers, along with a few other things.  But I own no parts of it save for the characters that are parts of my over active imagination.}

Chapter 13{Triskaidekaphobia, anyone?}

Point of No Return

**He just said, "Drink up."  He added perfectly factually, "The world's about to end."  "This must be Thursday," said Arthur to himself, sinking low over his beer.  "I never could get the hang of Thursdays."  A conversation between Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent in "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams**

{Author Ramblings:  I had wanted to title this chapter "Doom!" but the voices that I argue with wouldn't let me.  Damn voices!  And yes, I actually do have voices in my head that I talk to.  I do believe that I have already explained that I am slightly mentally unstable.  If not, now you know.  People, for some reason, enjoy reminding me of this at least once a day if not more.}

       The convicted trio entered the courtroom solemnly.  A masked guard seated them at a bench in the back of the room.  Others would be tried before them yet eventually their doom would come. Doom, doom, doom, doom!  Oh, boy…

       "Severus Snape."  A person dressed completely in black appeared before him.  "You are free to go."

       Snape stood up.  It was fine with him to leave.  He had no qualms about leaving everyone else to go through hell.  That was their problem, not his.

       "You owe us one, Snape," the man hissed as he led the Potions Master out a door.  "Malfoy and I had to go through about every connection we had to get you out of this mess."

       "The others as well?"

       "They have no way out.  Everyone of them is guilty of the crimes they committed.  The Master still has work for you to do."  The man turned away down a deserted alley way.  Snape was alone.  He decided to go back inside the court.  He so dearly wanted to see the insufferable Black get thrown into another prison to suffer.  He reentered the room by a different door and noticed Dumbledore seated in the audience.  Next to him on the left, was the werewolf, on the right the spoiled prat of a Gryffindor, Harry Potter himself.  Snape guessed he was there to watch his precious godfather be sacked again.  He held Harry's gaze for a moment as the boy saw him.  Harry flinched away.  Point for him.  Even in this degraded state he held fear.

       A line of Death Eaters stood of to one side of the courtroom.  Snape recognized some of them.  Connors, Walden, Jameson, Smith, and a few others he did not know.  He watched as each one approached the stand, gave a few names that wouldn't betray anyone too badly and hoped to themselves that Voldemort would have pity on them.  Not that is was likely that the Dark Lord felt any pity.  The line slowly shrunk to one last person.  

       "You!" Black roared, vaulting over the wooden barrier that separated him from the audience.  He grabbed the Death Eater by the collars of his ragged shirt and threw him to the floor.

       "H-hello, S-S-Sirius," the man scratched at hit throat were Black held him.  "F-f-fancy m-m-meeting you h-here."

       "You're going to die, Wormtail, and I am going to kill you."

       Aurors swarmed over to them, pulling the two apart.  Andy had rushed out of the box and pulled Sirius away.  Wormtail, also known as Peter Pettigrew the traitor, was hauled none too gently up to the bench.  Sirius was restrained toward the back.

       "Veritaserum, Your Honor?"

       "Go ahead."  The judge gave the order.  Three drops were placed on the Death Eater's tongue.

       "Tell me your name."

       Pettigrew didn't even try to resist the potion.  "Peter Pettigrew."

       "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

       "I faked my own death."

       "Are you allied with the Dark Lord?"

       "Yes."

       "What have you done for your Master?" the Auror sneered the name.

       "I have always been loyal to my Master.  He told me he wanted the Potters.  It started then.  I handed them over to him.  They thought that he would never suspect them to use so one like me, some one weak and untalented, but they did, and I gave them to my Master."  Wormtail's eyes were bright and shining with pride.  Sirius looked like he was ready to retch.  He looked about to go one before the Auror interrupted him.

       "How is it that you are not dead, as was believed before?"

       "I faked my own death."

       "You already stated that.  How?"

       "Sirius Black had come to confront me.  He had asked the Potters to switch to me, since I was less likely to be figured out.  I cast the curse that killed the Muggles there.  I cut off my own finger," he held up the damaged hand for all to see.  "And disappeared down the sewer system as a rat."

       "And you blamed everything on Sirius Black."

       "Yes, I did.  I have been faithful to my Master and he has rewarded me."

       The jury was muttering among themselves.  The person elected as a speaker stood up.  "Your Honor, we need no time to debate over this issue.  It has been decided that the person named Peter Pettigrew shall be sentenced to death."

       Sirius looked up from where he was being held back.  He slumped down over the arms supporting him.  This would mean, if Wormtail had taken his crimes and admitted to them, then he was…  It couldn't be!  It felt as if a huge burden was lifted from his shoulders.  He was free!

       "I call Sirius Black to the stand."

       Sirius felt like he was floating up to the front of the room.  All eyes were on him, some with disgust, others with amazement, a few with reassurance.  He straightened his slumped shoulders as he approached the bench.

       "May we use Veritaserum again, Your Honor."

       "Yes, go ahead."

       Three drops were placed on Sirius's tongue.  Nothing had ever tasted so sweet.

       "What is your name?"

       "Sirius Black."

       "Did you commit the murder of Peter Pettigrew and fourteen other people?"

       "No, I did not.  The above named murders were committed by Peter Pettigrew, who in turn staged his own demise, blaming the entire ordeal on me."

       Gasps and murmurs escaped through the lips of the crowd.  They had convicted him all this time, when he had done nothing.

       "Why did you go after Pettigrew on the night?"

       "He was Lily and James Potter's Secret Keeper.  I was originally chosen, but it was decided that the Dark Lord would have expected me to do it, so it was changed to a less obvious, less talented Peter Pettigrew.  He betrayed the Potters to the Dark Lord."  Sirius bit his lower lip.  That was a sensitive subject to talk about, even for him.

       "How did Pettigrew disappear?"

       "He was able to change into a rat.  He cut off his own finger, changed form and disappeared down the sewer system with the rest of the rodents."

       "And this left you with a wand pulled out, laughing manically with dead bodies around you?"

       The scene flashed through Sirius's head.  Peter had his back to a streetlamp post, wand concealed behind his back.  Sirius had his wand raised pointed at the other man.

       "Why did you betray Lily and James?" he hissed dangerously.

       Peter swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat.  "I had to do it, Sirius.  It made my Master extremely pleased with me.  Just like how I have to do this.  You know too much."  Then Peter had raised his wand and over Sirius's shoulder shot out a curse that killed all the innocent bystanders.  Sirius watched him as Peter cut off his own finger with a quick spell, changed into a rat, and skittered down the sewer grate never to be seen again until he showed up as a present for a Weasley.

       Sirius tilted his head back and laughed.  It was too funny.  Of course something like this was bound to happen, especially with the people he knew.  How many times had Murphy gotten back at them?  He had lost count after 50 some odd.  If anything could wrong, it would.  Yes, that had happened too many times in his life.  All the detentions, all the mistakes that they had made were all examples.  It was his fault, which was what amused him the most.  If he had not told them to change secret keepers, the Potters might still be alive.  He had and they had died because no one had guessed that pathetic Pettigrew would become a Death Eater.  No one had suspected a thing from the talentless lump of a boy, but he had ruined everything for them.  The Animgas transformation had to do something with it.  All the careful planning just to help Moony and it turns out that one of them used it for an advantage over the others.  He would pay.  Oh, yes, he would pay dearly for the mistake.

       Men in white coats had dragged him of to Azkaban in a padded Muggle van.  He was still laughing quietly, mirthful tears running down his face.  "Oh, you'll get what you deserve, you little rat.  The sewers are too good for you.  You'll pay soon enough.  You'll pay.  I'll make you pay.  I'll get you some day, Wormtail.  You betrayed us all."  It wasn't a wonder that the guards believed he was mentally unstable.  With all that he said, which made no coherent sense to the others in the van, he was decided to be a crazy, a person sent to the loony bin or in his case, Azkaban.

       It had been the only thing that had kept him sane in Azkaban, knowing he was innocent and that Wormtail had gone and ruined everything.  It was all just a huge joke.

       "Yes, it did."

       "Thank you, Mr. Black.  That should be enough."  The Auror looked over to the jury.

       The speaker stood up once again.  "The jury has decided on proof that no one can lie under Veritaserum that Mr. Black is innocent from all charges placed against him."

       Sirius stepped down, shell shocked.  He was free at last!  And Wormtail was going to pay for his crimes with his life.  He grinned lopsidedly.  Andy ran to embrace him as he stood there.  "I'm free, Andy, I'm free!"

       The woman smiled wanly into his shoulder.  He had done nothing.  He had always been innocent.  He was free, yes, but would she ever be?

       "I call Andromeda McGee to the stand."

       There was only one way to find out.  Andy let go of Sirius, giving his hand one last squeeze.  "Good luck, Andy," he whispered softly.

       She smiled, took a deep breath, and walked forward to her destiny.

{Author's Note:  I apologize if anything in this chapter in incoherent.  It was written after about five and a half hours of sleep, followed by having to take a Spanish Regents exam and a Chemistry Regents exam (State Tests) back to back, then working on the walk way that my family is redoing in front of our house, which involved carting loads of bricks back and forth.  Needless to say, my mind is mush even after sticking it in a freezer for a while.

Carpe Carpem, Nataly Ravenlock}


	14. Doom

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter world is property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers, Scholastic Books, and a few other people which does not include me.  Therefore, I am not to be held responsible for anything that happens to the characters, except for Andy, who is mine.}

**Chapter 14**

**Doom**

_**There goes my pain/ There goes my chains/ Did you see them falling?/ Because this feeling/That has no meaning/ There goes the world/ Off of my shoulders/ There goes the world/ Off of my back/ You can't change me/ You can't break me/ There goes the world "Quasimodo" Lifehouse**_

Andy approached the stand unwillingly.  There were still holes in her memory that had not been opened yet.  She wasn't certain if what she did was what actually happened.  'Well,' she mused to herself.  'I'm going to find out, aren't I?'

"May I use Veritaserum, Your Honor?"

"Yes, you may."

Andy felt three drops of sweet liquid on her tongue.  A shiver ran though her body.  She would like to know the truth as well as everyone else would.

"Name?" the Auror asked.

"Andromeda Josephine McGee," Andy heard herself answer.  At least she knew that was true.

"Did you escape from Azkaban?"

"I did not."

"Then how did you get out of Azkaban?"

"I was rescued by servants of Lord Voldemort." Most of the people in the courtroom shuddered at the name.

"How did you end up in Sade Correctional Facility?"

"I was attempting to rescue Severus Snape before he got himself killed."

"And Sirius Black was assisting you?"

"Yes, he was."  Andy didn't want to tell them why he was helping her.  She didn't have to by the laws of the serum.  She didn't want to get Dumbledore in trouble.

That cleared up a few things for the Auror.  "Why were you imprisoned in Azkaban?"

Andy froze.  A metal picture of the men that she thought that she had killed flashed through her mind.  It wasn't true.  She didn't kill them.  "I don't know."

"Why not?"

"Something was done to my memory just before I was imprisoned."

"Your Honor, may I try something?" the Auror turned to the judge.

"You have my permission to do anything you wish to solve this case."

"Thank you, sir," the Auror turned back to where Andy was seated on the bench.  "I am going to perform a charm on you that will project the blocked memory of you arrest on to the wall.  The charm will go past the blocks placed upon you."

"Fine," Andy agreed.

The Auror pointed his wand at her and spoke a few unintelligible words.  Andy's eyes became unfocused.  A projection of her mind appeared on the wall behind her.

Andy was shoved roughly into what looked like a Muggle police car.  "Get your hands off me!" she squirmed to struggle out of their grip but was pushed inside the car any way.

Sirius Black stood supported by the shoulders of James Potter and Remus Lupin.  Peter Pettigrew and Lily Evans-Potter stood near by.  One of the "Policemen" pointed a wand at the group.  "_STUPEFY!"  Those standing slumped to the ground.  The two men leapt into the car and drove away._

"Where the hell are you taking me?" Andy snapped.

"Don't worry, hon," the man in the shotgun seat spoke with a drawl.  "You're only going to meet Lord Voldemort."

"Lord Voldemort?"

"Yes," the man decided not to answer any more questions.

Andy sat in silence, thinking to herself.  What had she done to upset this Lord Voldemort?  She knew who he was and she knew he was evil, but what had she done to get on his bad side?  "May I ask why?"

"No, you may not."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

"That's not a good enough answer," Andy told him sharply.  "What gives you authority over me?"

"I have orders directly from my master stating that I am not to tell you anything save that you are going to meet with him."

"Okay, now we are getting somewhere.  That is exactly what I wanted to know.  So you guys know nothing?"

"Correct."

"Really?"

"Shut up."  The man cast a quick shielding spell between the front and back seats of the car so they wouldn't have to deal with her incessant chattering.

Andy realized that they were purposely ignoring her.  She promptly curled up and went to sleep with her head against the window.  She slept soundly, dreaming of Sirius.

A few moments later, two rough hands pulled her out of the dream world.  She was forced out of the car.  "No rest for the weary," she murmured to herself.  "So now what happens?" Andy asked her captors brightly.  She had taken it upon herself to annoy the hell out of them just to get on their bad sides.  They had pissed her off and they were going to pay.

The new guard said nothing.  Either he had been warned not to talk with her or was purposely picked since he was a deaf-mute.  Andy was grabbed roughly by her shoulders and forced up a rocky pathway.  The dark house loomed eerily in front of them.  "Creepy," she muttered to no one in particular.

Two more guards dragged her, stumbling, down a poorly lit hallway.  A wooden door creaked open, puddles of light spilling on to the floor.  The guards pushed her inside.  Andy tripped over her feet and fell to the ground.

"Welcome, Miss McGee.  Worshipping me already?" a sardonic voice cut through the still air.

Andy picked herself up off the plush green carpet.  "I would never worship you."

"Pity."  A man dressed in complete black sat upon a stone dais.  Andy noticed that it was caved in relief of serpents.  The man flipped down his hood, revealing a lined face that looked older than he actually was.  Light brown hair was tinged with gray at the temples and deep set eyes shone with vibrancy and intelligence.  He might have been considered handsome once, save for the evilness that emanated from him.  "It would make life so much easier if you did."

"Never," she repeated.  "What the hell do you want with me?"

"Patience, my dear girl, is a virtue."

"Since when do evil warlords have virtues?  And I'm not your girl."

Voldemort grinned wickedly.  "We shall see about that.  You are wondering why I have summoned you to be brought here.  It is necessary that you understand completely everything.

"I have been gaining power in the wizarding world over the last decade.  I have followers and I have enemies.  What more can I need, you ask?" Voldemort paused slightly, answering his own question.  "I want to be omnipotent, Miss McGee.  I need to be invincible.  And you are one of the few people that can assist me in becoming what I want to be."

"I don't understand."

"I don't understand," he laughed mockingly.  "The genius Gryffindor of Hogwarts doesn't understand.  That will be the day.  You know exactly what I want.  I know you do.  You are too intelligent not to know."

Andy kept her face completely placid.  Any sign of emotion would give it all away.  She did know exactly what he was after and she would never give it to him.

Voldemort stepped down from his throne.  Andy stared straight ahead, unflinching and unwilling to meet his gaze.  "You know exactly what I want, Miss McGee."

She held her position, immoveable as a rock.  'Ignore him,' she told herself.  'Just ignore him and everything will be fine.'

He stopped in front of her, lifting her chin to force eye contact.  "You found the Merlin's Potion.  I want it and you will give it to me."

Andy held his steely gaze.  "No."

"That's all you have to say to me?  No?"

"I never completed the potion.  It never worked."  Andy lied through her teeth.

"And pigs can fly.  I know you better than you think I do, Miss McGee.  I know you found the potion.  We saw you make it.  We saw you write it down and erase it.  We know you have it.  Hand it over."

"Never.  Not to a traitor like you."

"You are wrong, Miss McGee, eventually the good will die and evil will conquer.  This is your chance to rise above everyone who cast you into their shadows.  This is your chance to soar, with me."

"Never!" Andy screamed defiantly.  "How many times do I have to say it to get it through your thick skull?  I will not side with you and you will never get the potion."

Voldemort sighed, dropping her chin.  "Your stubbornness will get you killed."

"And your faith in yourself will cause your demise.  You can be beaten and you will fall."

Lord Voldemort raised his hand and slapped her across the face.  "I will not fail!  The world will be mine!  It doesn't matter what you think!"

Andy shrugged.  She didn't care.  She knew it irked people when she stayed completely calm in the face of a heated argument.  It was something she did on purpose.

"The question still remains open, Miss McGee.  Will you join me?"

"No, I already told you that I never would and never will."

Voldemort shook his head.  "You're going to regret saying that, but I did give you a choice."  He depressed a button on the arm of his throne.  The floor underneath her slid open.  Andy let herself fall.  Struggling was futile.  It would only serve to quicken her death.  She flew downward, plummeting to where ever she was headed.  Another door slid open at the bottom of the chute, dropping her into a cell.

Andy stood up, dusting herself off and peering around into the depths of her cell.  She ended up in a tiny room beneath Voldemort's fortress.  It reminded her of a typical cell that someone evil would have: dark, dreary, brick walled, no windows, and a thick wooden door.  She leaned against the far wall, arms crossed over her chest.  Never turn your back on an enemy.  It was one of the first rules of survival.  Andy let her eyes close and slid down the wall.  It would be best to sleep when she could.  Who knows what they would do to her later?

The door creaked open hours later.  Andy didn't bother opening her eyes.  She wouldn't be able to see with all the light anyway.  "Your fate has been decided by the Master.  Follow me."

Andy stood up from the cold uncomfortable floor.  She squinted to get used to the brightness.  The guard led her up a set of stairs to the same room she had been in before.

"Miss McGee, I will give one last chance.  Join me or suffer a fate worse than death."

"I've told you numerous times already.  I refuse to join you."

"I have then decided that death is too good for one who defies me.  You are going to become a nonentity."

Andy raised an eyebrow.  "You're going to erase my entire existence?"

"Exactly.  Then just to be safe, you get to spend the rest of your miserable life in Azkaban."

Andy leapt at the Dark Lord, arms extended, intent on strangling him.  He raised his hand and before she was even close to him, she flew into the opposite wall with a sickening thud.  Voldemort continued as if nothing had happened.  "I shall cast the spell.  Slowly memories, photographs, and writings of you will disintegrate.  No one shall remember that you were ever born."  Voldemort pointed his wand at her.  "_Obliviate__ Andromeda Josephine McGee."  A ripple shot out of the wand, spreading across the entire earth.  Sooner or later, Andy would cease to exist._

"Will I forget who I am as well?"

"Oh, yes, of course you will.  I can't have you leaking out who you are."

"Just out of curiosity, is there any reversal to your spell?"

"No."

Andy shrugged.  There goes that idea, even though it wasn't likely that she would be told if there was one.

The guards grabbed a hold of her and Apparated.  They dragged her into the corridors of Azkaban.  Andy could feel the darkness of this place.  She was thrown into another cell that would be her home until eternity came to pass.  She heard the key click in the lock, closing her inside forever .

"Good-bye, cruel world.  I shall never see you again except in my dreams.  If I survive, you will never be the same again.  Parts of me will disappear."  She paused looking up at the stone ceiling.  "Good-bye, Peter.  You'll get your chance in the spotlight eventually.  Good-bye, Remus, and good luck.  They'll find a cure for you, I know they will.  Good-bye, James and Lily.  May your life be happy together.  Good-bye Sirius, my love.  Good-bye, cruel world.  Andromeda McGee is gone forever now."  She chuckled quietly to herself.  It was the laughter of the hopeless.

{Author's Note:  Oh, boy…  That chapter was mostly written long handed on paper around midnight.  The remainder of the trial will be the next chapter.  It felt like a good stopping point.  Hope you enjoyed it.  Carpe Carpem, Nataly Ravenlock}


	15. Carpe Diem

{Disclaimer:  I own nothing, except for Andy and Wyvern.}

**Chapter 15**

**Carpe Diem**

_**Open the gates and seize the day/ Don't be afraid and don't delay/ Nothing can break us/ No one can make us/ Give our rights away/ Arise and seize the day** "Seize The Day" from the musical Newsies** _

The images on the wall faded back to the solid brown.  Members of the jury and the audience held stunned expressions on their faces.  She could see tears flowing down some cheeks.  Andy cast a quick grin at Remus, who was looking at her with open amazement.  Sirius, in the back, looked simply dumbfounded.  He never knew what had happened to her.  Andy, of course, found the entire situation hilarious.  The four remaining Marauders were together.  Remus was the only one who had always been free, yet he was held by his curse.  Sirius had been granted a ticket to a new life after all his suffering.  Peter was going to be killed and she was letting fate decided on what was yet to happen.  It wasn't a place they wanted to meet, but they were there none the less.

The Auror let the silence wear off gradually.  They all needed time to process what they had seen.  The judge tapped his grovel.  "Order!  Order in the court!"  The chatter died down to silence.  "You may continue."

"Thank you, Your Honor.  What happened from there?"

"I was at Azkaban until a few months ago, when the Death Eaters broke in and freed all of us."

The Auror nodded.  That was a logical, truthful explanation.  There were still some unanswered questions.  "Did you really find the Merlin's Potion?"

"I did."

"Could you find it again, if given the chance?"

"I believe my notes are still in existence if I am given the chance to locate them."

"What of the crimes that you believed that you committed?"

"If what my memory says is correct then Voldemort's men must have planted fake evidence in my mind to make me believe that I committed them."

"How exactly was the spell broken?"

"Sirius Black remembered me."

"How?" the Auror questioned.  "The Dark Lord stated that there was no reversal."

"He loved me.  Love does not let you forget much," Andy said quietly.

"I leave the decision to the jury."

The members of the jury murmured among themselves.  The speaker stood up.  "The jury finds Andromeda McGee not guilty."

Andy grinned as she walked back to Sirius.  He engulfed her in an enormous bear hug.  "We're free, Andy!  We're free!"  He let go, holding her still by both hands.

"Yes, Sirius, we're free," her smile widened.  "No more do we have to hide in the shadows while others walk in the light."

"Aren't you forgetting someone?"

Andy turned her head slightly.  "Oh, hello, Remus.  I was wondering when you would be here."

"I can't believe you, Andy.  That something like that would happen to you," Remus hugged her protectively.

"It's alright.  I'm here how.  We have a lot of catching up to do."

Remus let her go, changing his focus to Sirius.  "You're free at last, my friend."

"Yes, free at last.  Padfoot gets to rest for a while."

The three chuckled at the mention of the name.  There were fond memories shared between the three of them.

"I do believe that all of us should be getting back to Hogwarts," Professor Dumbledore spoke up.

"Hello, Professor," Andy quipped up, remembering the various times she had ended up in his office.

"Hello, Andromeda.  It is good to have you back.  Congratulations, Sirius.  It is a freedom well deserved.  I think Harry is looking for you."

"Harry's here?"

"He wanted to come to see you freed."

Sirius hurried away to locate his godson.

Andy swallowed.  "Thanks, Professor, for everything."

"You are very welcome.  That is what I am here for.  All we have to do is locate Severus and we can leave."

Someone screamed.  Everyone froze for a moment and then the babbling rose to a dull roar.

"Silence!" Dumbledore spoke just loud enough to catch every ear in the hall.  "What happened?"

The woman who had screamed spoke up.  "All I did was open the door…"  Her voice faded out, pointing to what lay beyond the opening.  It was a bloodied heap, mingled with black robes and raven hair.

"Severus," Dumbledore whispered.  "What have they done to you?"  He raised his voice slightly.  "Sirius, Harry, Remus, Andromeda," four heads raised from the crowd as they gathered around Dumbledore.  "Remus, I would like you and Sirius to assist me in transporting Severus to the infirmary.  Andromeda, Apparate back with Harry since he is unable to do so at the moment.  Apparate now."  Four mouths spoke the words and disapparated.  They arrived just outside the Hogwarts' grounds.

"Harry, I need you to run to the infirmary.  Tell Madame Pomfrey that Professor Snape has been gravely injured and that he is being brought to her immediately."

Harry nodded and ran off.

"Sirius, I am afraid it will not be safe for you yet until the Prophet announces your freedom.  You know what to do."

Sirius looked grim as he transformed to his giant black dog form.

Dumbledore had conjured up a stretcher.  "I want you two to take him up to the infirmary.  I'm afraid I am not as young as I used to be."

Remus and Andy each took hold of an end.  With a nod to each other, they started off at a dead run, Sirius loping behind.  Thankfully, the stretcher had been magicked to not over turn.  They plowed through the door and up to the infirmary.

"We have him," Remus spoke, not at all out of breath.  Lycanthropy had some advantages.

"Place him on the bed over there."  Madame Pomfrey got to quick work.  "Please stay out of the way.  I need room to work," she almost snapped as she bustled back and forth between the cupboards and Snape.  "I will do what I can for him."

Dumbledore entered the room.  "How is he, Poppy?"

"He's in a terrible state.  Someone was out to kill him, I suppose.  Both his legs and arms are broken in various places.  He's scraped up, bruised, battered, there's internal bleeding, and burn marks.  It's horrible.  I don't know how anyone could do such a thing."

Dumbledore nodded.  He knew.  "Do your best.  It is all that can be done for him."  He turned to the three standing nearby.  "Thank you.  You have done all you could.  Andromeda, the Potions job is yours if you would like it."

"Yes, sir, I would.  But what about my alter ego?"

"She went back to Seville on urgent business."

That made sense.  "Of course."

"Sirius will be assisting you.  I know that it is going to be a rough time for you both, but we need you.  This way, you can lean on each other."

Sirius nodded his shaggy black head.

"Very well then.  Remus, you already have your position.  You are fine.  Classes start regular time tomorrow."

"Professor, how long have we been out?" Andy asked curiously.

"Tomorrow is Friday."

"We missed an entire week in there?"

"You and Sirius were significantly stunned by the Aurors to put you out of commission for a while."

"Oh.  Thank you, Professor."

Remus led the way out of the infirmary.  "I've always hated that place."

"I wonder why?" Andy asked drolly, knowing very well why he abhorred it.  "Where are we headed to anyway?"

"To the Defense corridor.  My office is there and so are Sirius's belongings."  Remus produced an ancient key to open the door.  It was late and the room was empty of living beings.  Sirius changed back to his human nature as soon as the door was closed.  The threesome took seats in the comfortable armchairs situated around the fireplace.

"I am teaching Potions?" Sirius asked, looking like he was about to laugh.

"No, we are teaching Potions," Andy corrected him.

"That can't be good," Remus added.  "I fear for your students, having to put up with the both of you.  One might have been pushing it, but the two of you in the same room used to be enough to give me nightmares."

"What did we ever do to you?"

"Not to me, to other people.  If you remember, you and Sirius were the ones who earned the most detentions with in the first week of Hogwarts our first year and plotted most of the things that we did to terrorize the school."

"Oh, yes," Sirius remembered fondly.  "That was because we succeeded in lighting McGonagall's hat on fire before the Sorting while we were actually trying to get Snape's greasy hair in flames."

"And the entire fireworks display in the Great Hall after the Sorting that turned most of the Slytherins' hair a nice shade of bright purple."

"My point exactly.  I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking, letting the two of you in the same room, much less as professors."

"We are perfectly responsible, Remus," Sirius sounded quiet stubborn.

"Don't you trust us?"

"No," the werewolf shook his head.  "You may have grown older but…"

"Remus, we have both changed," Andy spoke extremely quietly.  "Azkaban does that to a person.  We promise that we won't do anything to get ourselves fired.  Right, Sirius?"

"Sure."

"That makes me feel a tad bit better."

Sirius reached over to a shelf above the roaring fireplace.  He filled three glasses with the burgundy liquid and paced one to each person.  "To freedom."

"To freedom."

"Freedom."  The three took a sip of the wine.

"Where's James when you need to make a toast?" Andy asked quietly.

There was a brief pause.  "Andy, James is dead."

Andy blinked to assimilate the information.  "And Lily, too?

Remus nodded slowly.  "Both of them.  A few years after you were taken away, Voldemort killed them."

Andy sipped reflectively on her wine.  "He was after all of us, wasn't he?  Peter joined him.  James and Lily died from him.  Me and Sirius ended up in Azkaban…"

"What about me?"

"You're a dark creature, not necessarily evil, but people fear you none the less.  You were shunned by society, so the Dark Lord didn't care to make you suffer when you did enough already."

Remus cracked a wan smile.  It was true enough.  He was a dark creature and he had suffered from it.  They had all suffered.

"We should probably be getting down to the dungeons.  I, at least, want to know what we are doing tomorrow."  Sirius stood, cracking his back.  He walked into a small adjoining room and grabbed a small satchel.  He never had much after he escaped.

"Then let us go," Andy climbed out of her comfy chair.  "Thanks, Remus."  She gave him another hug just because he looked like he needed one.  He's so lovable any ways.

"See you tomorrow." Sirius and Andy left the Defense room.

Remus sat back down in his chair and poured himself something more potent.  He stared into the flames, letting his mind wonder.  He remembered when they had all been happy.  Their worlds had been torn apart, ripped to shreds and put back together.  Pieces were missing, but they were there none the less.  He no longer had Sirius to worry about.  His friend was free now.  Andy had shown up after being erased by Voldemort.  He shook his head, not knowing how anyone could be so cruel.  Andy had been right.  The world was against them.

Sirius hadn't bothered to change forms.  The distance between the rooms was short enough and at this hour, few were awake.  Andy opened the door cautiously.  The Potions dungeon was completely pitch black.

"_Lumos."  She quickly lighted a few candles, casting light into the dreariness of the classroom._

Sirius looked around.  "Snape really had a way with colors, didn't he?"

Andy chuckled.  "I asked him once if he would mind if I redecorated everything in the dungeons in pink floral print and he almost burst into flames."

"We could do that, you know," Sirius had an evil glint in his eye.  If there was anything that he enjoyed the most, it was tormenting the slimy git of a Slytherin, Severus Snape.

"I know we could.  Snape would get so pissed at us, it wouldn't even be funny.  We, his arch enemies and Gryffindors at that, get his job as Potions Masters and redecorate his dreary, dark room into something less monochromatic."

"Perfect.  I say we do it, if for anything, just to cause turmoil in his greasy life."

Andy looked at him out of the corner of her eye.  "Remus was right.  He knew something like this was going to happen with the two of us in the same room."

"Oh, well.  He knows us too well, I guess."  He rubbed his hands together in anticipation of what he was going to do.  "Where do we start?"

"First we take everything down, see what we have to work with, and fix it to do what we want it to do."

They spent the early hours of the morning redecorating the entire potions room.  It went from being dark and terrifying to something half-way respectable looking.  The main color scheme changed to burgundy, navy, and silver instead of the worn black and pale grays.  The walls were lightened to a more pleasant shade of stone brick.  Puddles of ancient candle wax were scraped off the ground.  The floors were given a good polishing so they shined.  A horrible painting of a cave troll was taken down and replaced with one of a griffin.  Snape's bottles and ingredients had been reorganized so that pickled body parts and creatures were not in full view for everyone to see.  At the end of a few hours, the room looked nothing like it had before.

"Wow," Andy decided as she finished shooing spiders out of one of the corners.

"That looks much better.  Snape's going to kill us," Sirius looked around happily.  "Where's the lesson plan?"

"I saw it on the desk," Andy picked it up and handed it to him.  She waited a moment for him to read it.  "What do we get to do today?"

"I'm not exactly sure.  Can you decipher any of this?"

Andy took the sheaf of parchment from him.  She squinted at it, turned it sideways, and flipped it over.  "Nope, I can't.  It is completely illegible.  I give credit to who ever wrote this for being able to read it."

"Then if we can't figure out what we are supposed to so, I say we do what we always did before."

"Make everything up as we go along?"

"And still look like we know what we're doing in the process."

"That's a plan then.  What time is it, anyway?"

"It is a little after two in the morning."

"Really?"

"Yes, really.  You seemed surprised."

Andy shook her head.  "No.  I figured it would be later.  We'd better get some sleep if we are going to teach tomorrow."

Sirius groaned.  He wasn't looking forward to it, as interesting as it deemed to be.  There was a growing pit of nervousness in his stomach and he had a hunch that it wouldn't go away.  Being on the run for a few years had made him nervous around people.  He dreaded the reaction of the students when they learned that both professors in the new Potions teaching team had been in Azkaban.  At least they hadn't been guilty of anything major.  If they had the students might have something against them, but they didn't so they were safe for now.

Andy led him out of the classroom and down a short, gloomy hall.  She opened the door to her room with a flick of her wand.  Flames were burning brightly in the fireplace.  A small creature was curled up in front of it.  "Wyvern, how did you get here?"  Andy looked curiously at her calico cat.

The cat produced a rumbling purr, explaining nothing.  Andy turned back to Sirius.  "I'm in here.  There's another room attached to this one that I can get into.  You can have it."  She opened an adjoining door off to the side of the room.

It was obvious that the house elves had specifically prepared it for Sirius.  The entire room was done in Gryffindor red and gold.  He entered, looking around and admiring everything.  It was the first space that had been officially his since his cell in Azkaban.

"Sirius?"

"Hmmm?"

"I wanted to thank you for remembering me.  If it weren't for you, I would still be lost without a clue of who I am."

Sirius gave her a half smile.  "I know.  That is what I am here for: to save the day and rescue damsels in distress."

Andy laughed.  "You're an egotistical bastard, aren't you?"

"Love me for what I am."

"I do."  She embraced him.  It felt good to be wrapped in his arms.  It felt safe, like no one could hurt her.  "Good night, Sirius."

"It's morning."

"I don't care." 

"Good night, Andy."  She left, closing the door behind her.  Sirius stared at the wooden planks as if they would have the answers to his questions.  Why did life have to be so difficult?  He knew he had loved her once, but could he still love her again, after all they had been through?  More importantly, did she still love him?  She had admitted to still loving him, but he couldn't be sure if she was being sarcastic or not.  Time would only tell.

{Author's Note:  And another chapter is completed!  I probably could have finished it there after the trials, written a short epilogue, deleted the part about Snape and have a story, but this is way too much fun to write.  So you readers get lucky and have to put up with my ramblings for a while more.  Carpe Carpem, Nataly Ravenlock}


	16. The Past Can Kill

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for the characters that are parts of my own imagination, mostly including Andromeda McGee and Wyvern}

**Chapter 16**

**The Past Can Kill**

_**"Hey, this is terrific!" he said.  "Someone down there is trying to kill us!" Zaphod Beeblebrox when their ship is about to be hit by a pair of fully armed nuclear warheads in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams**_

Snape had stepped outside once Sirius Black had been proven innocent.  That had ruined his day.  He would have been much happier if the cursed Gryffindor had been locked away.  Black completely deserved it, in his opinion.  Then again, he also believed that all Gryffindors were scum of the universe so that held some weight in his decision.  Snape gave a swift kick to an alley cat lurking nearby.

"Calm yourself, Severus," a man stepped out of the shadows just as Snape felt his left forearm begin to burn.  "The Master still has plans for you."  Severus apparated immediately to his Master's fortress.

"Severus Snape," Voldemort hissed his name, sending a chill up Snape's back.  "Once again, the Aurors have wrecked my plans."  He pointed his wand at the Death Eater.  "_Crucio."_

He fell to the floor, writhing in pain.  He made no sound though he wished he could scream.  Screaming would show weakness.  Jolts of energy shot through his body, shaking him like lightening.  It stopped.  Snape slowly stood up, shaking.

"I have a job for you.  I want you to find the woman named Andromeda McGee and bring her to me."

"Yes, Master," Severus spoke humbly.

"After I let Crutch finish with you.  He was enjoying himself immensely until you left."

Snape swallowed.  So that had been who was torturing him at Sade.  He knew David "Crutch" Illingworth from when he had been in Hogwarts.  He had been a Slytherin as well, two years behind him and known to be ruthless.  The nickname "Crutch" was a result of his permanent limp from a Quidditch accident.

A droll voice from behind Snape spoke.  "Thank you, Master.  I shall make him suffer.  _Incendio."_

Snape burst into flames.  He fell to the floor, rolling to put them out, but they kept relighting.  They were magical and nothing ordinary would remove them except a counter spell.  He did the only thing that he could at a time like this: pass out.

Crutch dragged him into a small room off of Voldemort's throne room and waited for Severus to wake up.  He knew it wouldn't take long.  "Snape, Snape, Snape, you aren't a wimp, even I know that.  Don't pass out.  It doesn't suit you very well.  I have to finish what I have begun."  Crutch pointed his wand at Snape.  "I have more interesting things planned for you.  _Petrificus__ Totalus!"_

Snape was promptly frozen.  He could only move his eyes, not that it helped him much.

"This will make everything much easier, especially since I know you would not do this voluntarily."  Crutch elevated Snape's stiff form with a flick of his wand.  Severus could see nothing but the endless tiled ceilings.  "Welcome to the Pit of Doom.  It isn't really a pit, but it serves the same purpose as one.  Room of Doom just wouldn't hold the same ominous feeling that pit does.  I will be back to collect your remains in half an hour."  Crutch closed the thick barred gate behind his prisoner and freed him from the body bind.

Snape dropped to the soft ground.  There was a palpable stench to everything.  It was a damp rotting tinged with the overpowering tropical flowers and a hint of smoke from burnt wood.  The air was filled with humidity.  He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow as he pulled himself up on his feet.  His hand crept down to his wand pocket.  What he pulled out was not a mere stick of wood, but a sharp, shiny dagger.  Snape flipped it casually for a moment, thinking about what to do.  A half hour in the rain forest, he could survive that.  If he could survive hours in a harsh Siberian waste land then he could survive a bit of heat.  All he had to do was wait.

A low pitched moaning roar echoed over the tree tops.  Snape froze against the stone wall of the entrance; still grasping the blade he was given.  The knife wouldn't be of any assistance against the creature that made a sound such as that.  He was not completely certain, but there were only a few creatures in the world that could create a sound like that which he was hearing.  The air began to beat with a furious pounding.  Brimstone permeated the air.  It only served to make Snape more nervous.  His guess had been correct yet he almost wished he was wrong.  If it was as he believed it to be, his chances of survival were cut to slim to none, especially if the beast had been trained by Lord Voldemort for the specific purpose of killing people.  He knew it to be true.  Lord Voldemort would have trained it as a deadly assassin.  He was better off dead.

The creature came into full view, casting a shadow over Snape.  Cruel serpentine eyes gazed out of horned black sockets.  The head itself was at least twice the length of a man.  The body was gigantic, making him think of a cruise ship with its immensity.  A long tail whipped back and forth like an oversized pendulum.  Snape shrunk back against the cold wall near the gate.  The beast moved its head to look at him out of its yellow eye.

"This is the part where you run," it spoke with a minute hissing quality.  Snape decided to listen for once and ran for his life into the dense trees.  "You can run, little man, but you can never hide from me."

Up ahead, he noticed a dark cavernous opening and dived inside.

"The caves will do you no good.  I have friends in them."

Snape glanced around furtively, hoping to prove the dragon wrong.  A pack of moon eyed wolves emerged from the shadows.  Voldemort had thought of everything.  He sprinted back out of the cave and kept running.  He was pleased with himself for managing to keep fit and not let himself go to seed.  He would have been dead long before this if he had.  Trees seemed to reach out their branches to grab a hold of his cape.  He let it go and never looked back.  It could be replaced.  He couldn't.

The dragon soared over head, watching his every move.  He knew eventually his prey would tire and then it would be his chance.  Snape took a quick glance skyward.  It was still there and would stay there above him until he stooped.  The dragon inhaled.  He could feel the pull of the air being sucked toward it.  Snape inwardly cringed, knowing what was about to happen.

'Wait for it,' he told himself, still racing his airborne foe.  'Wait…Now!'  He threw himself sideway out of the path of the flame.  Dragon fire clipped him slightly, though not as bad as it would have had it taken him full force.  The dragon let out a wail of frustration.  Missing had not made it very happy.  Snape rolled back to his feet, balancing in a crouch.  His cape was gone, along with most of his left sleeve.  The Dark Mark still glowed on his forearm.  He stayed in the underbrush, keeping as still as possible.  Any movement would make him able to be detected.  As long as he stayed hidden, he was safe.

Snape felt his nose begin to itch.  He rubbed at it with his hand, attempting to calm it.  It didn't help much.  It never did.  A lone sneeze echoed through the jungle.  'Damn pollen!  There goes the hiding approach,' he used a few more choice adjectives to describe his situation as he began to sprint once more.  The dragon was still flying overhead, tirelessly.  Snape cursed the beast for its immortality.  It shot another burst of flames at him.  Again he dove away from it.

To his side, a low voice growled.  Snape turned his head, coming nose to nose with a snarling wolf.  "Shit."  He scuttled backwards, colliding with a tree.  His head made a hollow thunking noise as it made impact.  The wolves closed their circle around him.  A long claw reached out of the sky, grabbing him by the back of his shoulders.

"Thank you, my friends," the gigantic creature hissed.  It flew, Snape attached to its clawed limb, to a clearing large enough to fit its massive body.  Skeletons of past meals were littered in over flowing heaps.  Obviously some remains were not taken care of.

Snape flew through the air until the talons holding him opened.  He fell to the ground, feeling the air empty from his lungs.  He wheezed for breath as the dragon shot a fresh burst of its internal furnace.  Snape could not move this time and took the blast straight on.  There was no way to avoid it.  It was inevitable that he would be struck.  The warm flash of light and heat caressed his skin like a summer breeze.  His skin was seared, hair singed in some places, others still slightly flaming.  Snape opened his eyes.  Everything was a black void.  He held out his hand in front of him and waved it around.  Nothing could be seen.  No images could be found.  He had been blinded by fire.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The dragon let out a deep rumbling chuckle.  "Did I deprive you of your vision, little man?  I apologize for doing so, but it makes everything so much easier for me."  It picked him up and threw him against the nearest tree.  Snape could feel his arms crumble beneath him, shattering into tiny pieces.  He crashed to the forest floor with a moan.

"Did I hurt you, little man?"  There was a pause as if the creature had expected Snape to answer its query.  "I shall take that as a yes."  It sighed deeply.  "I am doing this in your best interest.  It is only my occupation to provide a marvelous torture experience so you will not screw up in the future."

Another painful moan escaped Snape's lips as he shifted his weight to his legs, trying to stand up.  He had landed wrong on his ankle, twisting it.  Not being able to see made everything so much more difficult, especially in an unknown location such as this one.

He felt the cold talons seize him once again.  A weightless sensation passed through his entire body as he soared through the air.  'Flying wasn't all it was worth,' he decided almost ironically as he collapsed back to the soft ground.  Things were getting too agonizing for his liking, even for him with a natural high tolerance for pain and its likes.  His mind was beginning to slip away.

The dragon grinned toothily at its prey.  It lifted him up to its mouth and crunched down lightly on Snape's unbroken arm.  A high pitched scream escaped through his burnt jaws.  The arm was now at least fractured and injected with the highly corrosive poison that dragon teeth were known to have.  The beast swung him around and released it victim over the tree tops.  Snape took wing over the leafy boughs.  He rammed into another tree with his shoulder.  He could hear the audible crunch of bones snapping.  Things were not looking up.  Severus slid downward, smashing into every branch on the tree.

Snape sighed, almost glad to be at the bottom for a moment of rest before he was lifted up and thrown again.  His peace would not last.  That was the truth.  A brief thought passed through his mind, wondering how much longer he could last.  He had survived so many things in the past.  Would he live now?  Would he die at the hands of Voldemort's dragon, blind and broken?  When was the half hour to be finished?

Strong, human hands lifted him from the leaf covered ground.  "I'm surprised you survived the encounter with Remiel.  Most have died before their time is completely."  Snape didn't need to see to know who the voice belonged to.  "I suppose I shall have to deliver you back to the world.  Oh, well.  I was looking forward to a good execution.  Just remember what the Master ordered you to do and you will stay alive."

The thought echoed through Snape's mind.  Find Andromeda McGee and bring her to him.

{Author's Note: Remiel is the angel of souls, for those of you who were wondering about the name and where it came from.  I thought that it fitted quite well.  I had way too much fun with this chapter.  Cursed sadism!  Oh, well…I'm not a Slytherin for nothing.  

Anna Black:  I actually like to write fight scenes.  They are one of the few things I can write easily.  I think it has something to do with my Martial Arts background.  I do appreciate the reviews even though you already read the chapter.  Thanks!

Jess:  Yes, I know you knew what happens next.

Carpe Carpem, Nataly Ravenlock}


	17. Pillows, Potions, and Problems

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for the characters that are parts of my own imagination, mostly including Andromeda McGee and Wyvern}

**Chapter 17**

**Pillows, Potions, and Problems**

_**I'm a survivor/ I'm not going to give up/ I'm not going to stop/ I'm going to work harder/ I'm a survivor/ I'm going to make it/ I will survive/ To keep on surviving "Survivor"  Destiny's Child**_

Thud!  A pillow landed promptly on Sirius's dozing head.  He moaned as the projectile raised itself off of his face.

"Sirius!  Rise and shine!  We're free!"

Sirius allowed his eyes to crack open.  Andy stood over him, one hand on her hip, the other holding the wand responsible for the hovering pillow.  "I forgot how much of a morning person you were," he mumbled.

Andy cracked a wide grin.  "You've got to get up, anyhow.  Dumbledore sent us word that he wants both of us at breakfast no matter what."  She brandished the note in front of his nose.  Sirius could make out that it was Dumbledore's handwriting and had the word 'must,' 'attend,' and 'breakfast' in the same sentence.

"That's not good."

"No, it's not.  We can't refuse though.  He has given us so much already."

Sirius sat up, looking at her intently.  "You know what their reactions will be with the two of us walking into the Great Hall?  Our pictures are guaranteed to be on the front page of the Daily Prophet.  People will recognize me at least.  You don't have to worry about it as much.  People don't know you, Andy.  They know me.  They know who I am and what I was convicted of doing.  They're terrified of me.  Do you know how many people were ready to kill me?"

"Too many to count?  Some of us know the truth now.  The rest will know soon enough.  If anything, you have me, Remus, and Dumbledore for you, and the godson of yours."

"Harry?"

"Yes, him.  Who in their right mind would have made you a godparent?"

"James and Lily," he whispered, hoping that she would learn eventually.

Andy paused.  "They had a son?"

Sirius nodded.  "Even Voldemort couldn't kill Harry Potter.  James's son caused the destruction of a Dark Lord before he could talk."

"Figures.  We ought to get going unless you want to be late," Andy stormed out of his room, leaving Sirius to find a pair of robes to pull over his Gryffindor colored boxers.  At least she hadn't made any comments about them.

Andy looked up as he entered her room.  She had been furiously scribbling in a small book.

"Shall we go, milady?"  He offered her his arm.

"Certainly, milord," Andy took his arm as they left the Potions Dungeon.  "Though we shouldn't be seen like this.  Rumors grow faster than a Firebolt flies."

Sirius let her arm drop, albeit reluctantly.  She was right.  What a tale that would be: two Azkaban escapees…  He chuckled grimly to himself, feeling butterflies of nervousness flutter in his stomach.  He could predict the reactions easily.  There were less people than he could count on all ten of his fingers that would not purposely steer away from seeing him at Hogwarts.  Dumbledore, Remus, Andy, Harry, Ron, Hermione…  He wasn't certain about the rest of the teachers.  Though if Snape was still intact, he might be personally killed.  Six, it made a grand total of six.  That was rather pathetic.  They reached the doors to the great Hall and paused.  "This is our last chance to run away."

"We have to do it, Sirius.  The Gryffindor stubbornness would make us do it, if nothing else would.  Eventually we will have to open all the doors."

Sirius cast a side long glance at his teaching counterpart.  "Here goes nothing."  He pushed open the doors, striding inside, Andy only a step behind him.

A hush blanketed the entire hall.  Dumbledore stood up.  "Ah, yes.  Right on time.  I would like to announce two new additions to our teaching staff: Sirius Black and Andromeda McGee.  Professor Snape will be out for the rest of the year due to rather extenuating circumstances.  As most of you know, before any questions are asked or rumors go amiss, both Mr. Black and Ms. McGee were wrongly accused of crimes they did not commit.  Please welcome them."

There was a smattering of applause, mostly from the Gryffindor table for the fact that there would be no more Snape for the entire year, and from those twisted enough to savor the idea of being taught by people who escaped from a high security prison.

Sirius and Andy approached the staff table without slowing.  Two seats on the end were open.  Sirius was glad that was over.  Soon conversation had climbed back to its normal roaring state and people began to relax.

Change of perspective: Gryffindor table

Harry sat at the Gryffindor table, stunned.

"Harry?  Harry, snap out of it," Hermione hit him on his shoulder.

"Huh?  What?"

"I told you to snap out of it.  You were looking rather dazed."

"I just can't believe that Sirius was freed and here and teaching."

"That means Snape's going for the rest of the year!" Ron exuberantly proclaimed.  "No more Slytherins being favored!  No more losing points for doing nothing wrong at all!  No more…"

"We get the picture already!"

"But there's no more Snape!  Do you know how many months that is that we don't have to put up with him?"

"Around eight," Hermione answered absently.  "Calm down, Ron.  We get your point."

Back to the teachers' table

"Y'know they don't seem to trust us must, Andy," Sirius said in an undertone.

"I know.  Remus is across the table so that doesn't help and McGonagall's been glaring at us since we got here."

Sirius snorted.  "That doesn't surprise me.  She hasn't forgiven us yet."

"Probably not.  I don't suppose she ever will, though we did apologize for it."

People were beginning to leave in order to prepare for the upcoming classes.  Andy stood up.  "I'm going.  We have a class first thing."  Sirius followed her out.  He wasn't going to stay at the staff table alone.  Remus caught up with them.

"Good luck.  You're going to need it."  He clasped Sirius on the arm.

"You make it sound ominous."

"Potions are ominous."

"That makes me feel so much better."

"You'll do fine.  You were always one of the best even though you did choose to explode the potions' lab most of the time."

"Thanks, Remus."  Sirius noticed that Andy had already disappeared down the hall to the Potions Dungeon.  The butterflies had yet to leave.  Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

Andy looked up from where she sat at her desk.  "Oh, it's you.  I was wondering when you were going to show up.  Want to try brewing Luck today?"

"What year level?"

"The fifth years are on first."

"That's highly encouraging."

"What do you mean?"

"Harry's in the class."

"Oh," Andy nodded, understanding his train of thought for the moment.  "So, do we try Luck?"

"Sure.  Why not?"  Sirius took a seat at the other desk, placing his feet on top.

"Snape would have your head as a wall ornament if he saw you doing that to his desk."

"It's not his desk anymore.  It's mine now.  He's going to be a while recuperating."

"I know that.  He'd still love to kill you."

"Yes, he would.  He probably wants all the Marauders' heads on labeled plaques in his trophy room."

"I don't think he has a trophy room."

"It's the thought that counts."

Students began to file into the classroom.  Most of them either apprehensive or down right terrified to be there.  After a few moments the class was full.

Sirius swung his long legs off the desk top.  He could hear his footsteps echo as he approached the front of the class.  Andy gave him a nod to go ahead.  She wanted to see what would happen.  Sirius cleared his throat to quiet the class though they were already dead silent.  "Welcome to Potions.  I, for those of you who do not know me, am Sirius Black.  This," he gestured to Andy.  "Is Andromeda McGee.  The two of us will be responsible for teaching the lot of you until the end of the year.  Today we will begin by brewing Luck.  Who can tell me any ingredients that might be useful in making a successful Luck potion?"

After a pause, a few hands ventured into the air.  Sirius chose a random Slytherin.  "You there, Zambini."

"Four leaf clover," the girl drawled, still filing her perfectly manicured fingernails.

"That is correct.  Five point to Slytherin."

There were some mumbles from the Gryffindor side of the classroom.  "Yet again the Potions professor favors Slytherin."

"I do not favor any one right now.  I am a professor.  I am not a Head of House.  If anything, I was a Gryffindor when I attended this school.  A professor's job is to teach equally and fairly to all students that wish to learn.  When any of your enter my classroom, you will all be equal.  No one will be picked on for their lack of talent, nor for their abundance of talent.  Understand?"

The class stared, uncertain of what to do.

"When I ask you a question, I want an answer.  Passive silence will not do.  Just nod your head yes.  All I want is to see that you are paying attention.  I need to know if you are alive.  Do you understand?"

Every head in the room nodded yes.  Even a few verbal affirmations were given.

"Much better.  Now what else would we add to a potion creating Luck?"

In her corner, Andy sat, shaking her head to herself and grinning.  Sirius was certainly getting into his role of teaching.  She supposed they might have a chance.

All the ingredients were determined and written down.  Sirius ordered the class to split up into pairs and begin working on the potion.  Luck took a relatively short time to brew, but needed to set for a week in order to gain its full potency.  The class bottled their potions and left the room when finished.

Harry approached Sirius's desk holding a letter in his hand.

"Hello, Harry.  I want your honest opinion.  How was the class?"

"It was fine.  It'll take a while for the students to get used to you, but after they warm up, this is going to be much better than Snape teaching.  Uncle Vernon wanted me to give this to you," Harry handed Sirius the letter.  "I got it this morning.  Your note is the one on the bottom."

Sirius read it out loud.  "Harry, we heard that you godfather, Sirius Black, has been released and is no longer considered a criminal.  I am passing the custody of you to him.  I never want to see your face in this house again, signed Vernon Dursley.  Dear Mr. Black, since you have been released, I am passing Harry's custody to you, making you his legal guardian.  I never want to see you or him again.  Do not write back, signed, Vernon Dursley."  He laughed.  "Well, then, Harry, I suppose this gives us reason to celebrate.  No more having to put up with that elephantine of a cousin anymore.  Not that this improves your situation very much."

"It does.  I no longer have to sleep in a cupboard over summer vacation."

"You're right.  Go on with you.  I know you have a class next and who ever is teaching will not be too thrilled if you are late because of me, especially because of me.  Oh, and Harry?  I wouldn't go around letting too many people know that I'm your godfather.  It might start a few things."

"Bye, Sirius."  Harry left the room, leaving Sirius to sit in shock.  His life had been turned upside down and inside out.  Only yesterday, he had still been a convict, running from the law.  Now he was free.  Until a few minutes ago, he had no responsibilities.  Harry was his now.

Sirius leaned back in his chair, hands laced behind his head.  "James, I have him now.  He's safe with me.  You don't have to worry about him having to live with those horrible Muggles anymore.  I don't just how, but we will work everything out."  He could almost see James and Lily standing nearby smiling upon him.

{Author's Note:  Well, that was interesting.  I don't think it had any point what so ever, but it was another chapter just the same.  Just a quick note.  I have written up to chapter 26 so far.  There will be more after 26 and eventually they all will be posted, but until then, hang in there.  Hope you enjoyed it and please review.  Peace, Love, and Ice Cream, Nataly Ravenlock}


	18. Confrontations

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for the characters that are parts of my own imagination, mostly including Andromeda McGee and Wyvern}

**Chapter 18**

**Confrontations    **

_**Another bruise to try and hide/ Another alibi to write/ Another lonely highway in the black of night/ But there is hope in the darkness/ You know you're going to make it through/ Another ditch in the road/ You keep moving/ Another stop sign/ You keep moving on/ And the years go by so fast/ Silent fortress built to last/ Wonder how we ever made it through.  "Two Beds and a Coffee Machine" __Savage__Garden__**_

Andy stood up.  "I'm going to deliver the potions that Poppy ordered and see how Snape is doing."

"Why would you care about that slimy git of a Slytherin?"

"I've told you before, Sirius.  He saved my life."

"How?"

Andy sighed.  "You just don't give up, do you?"  He was one of the Death Eaters at Azkaban.  They had gathered up all the prisoners to force them to join Voldemort's troops.  I refused.  I think I might have killed a couple of them when they tried to subdue me.  I ran away, jumped out a window.  I threw myself over a cliff, for the Gods' sakes, just to get away from Voldemort.  Snape dived in after me.  He apparated me back to his house."

"Snape has a house?" Sirius interrupted.

"Yes, Snape has a house.  He apparated me there and told the Death Eaters that I had drowned after getting my head bashed in by the rocks below.  He was the only one decent enough to do that.  If not for him, I would have killed myself, Sirius.  I wouldn't be here now.  There would be no Andromeda McGee.  You know what else he did?  He agreed to let me assist him with his potions classes.  He could have simply said no.  He gave me my life back, Sirius.  I owe him that much."

Sirius didn't know what to say.  "Fine.  Go ahead.  I, for one, am staying here."

Andy stormed out of the room, fists closed in tight balls at her sides.  Sometimes, Sirius could be too difficult for her own good.  She stomped up to the infirmary and took a deep breath to calm herself.  There was no reason to let her temper get the best of her.  She opened the doors.  "Madame Pomfrey?  Here are the potions that you requested."  Andy pulled the satchel from her back.

"Thank you, dear.  Call me Poppy."

"All right.  I will.  May I see him?"

Madame Pomfrey eyed her warily.  She had many recollections of Andromeda McGee ending up in fights with Snape that put both of them in the infirmary.  "If you promise not to do anything to him.  He's in enough pain as it is."

"Thanks."  Andy walked into the small room off to the side of the hospital wing where they had originally delivered Snape.

He didn't look much better.  His pale skin was slashed with the pink lacerations of healing cuts and burns.  A thick white bandage covered his eyes.  At least the blood was gone, she figured.

"Who's there?" Snape's voice rasped.  He had heard the footsteps enter the room.

"It's Andy."

Snape went silent as she approached his bedside.  "What do you want?  Have you come to laugh at my pathetic position in life?"

"I wanted to see if you were still alive."

"Am I?"

"I think so.  You look better than you did yesterday."

"How exactly did I look yesterday?"

"You looked like you went to Hell and back a few times.  You were completely soaked with blood, limbs bent at odd, unnatural angles, burn marks covering a good ninety percent of your body." She nodded.

"And today?"

"There's no more blood.  The cuts and burns are healing, and your limbs are straight.  You at least look better though I'm guessing you feel like crap."

Snape didn't know what to say.  She was his only other visitor than Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey.  "I'm alive, aren't I?"

"Yes."

"Yesterday, I might have been dead."

"I know.  We found you outside the court.  Dumbledore had us apparate back.  Remus and I ran you up here.  We saw what you looked like."

"You and Remus?"

"Yes, me and Remus.  Dumbledore didn't want Sirius running around before the notice got out that he was free."

"Figures."

"Hmmm?"

"It figures that of all the people to rescue me, it was a bunch of Gryffindors."

"You say it like it is bad thing."

"To a Slytherin, it is."

The room went silent for a moment as both tried to collect their thoughts.  "Look, Severus, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For all the thing that I said yesterday."

"The list of rather colorful explicatives, you mean."

"Yes, that and other things."

"Apology accepted.  Is that all you wanted?"

"No."

"Then what do you want from me, woman?"  Snape was slowly loosing the shattered remains of his patience.

"I thought you might want someone to talk to.  Face it, not many people like you.  You get lonely being locked up in a room by yourself."

"What if I don't?"

"Then I leave and come back tomorrow."

"Being rather persistent, are we?"

"No, not really.  I can be worse.  I just owe you my life."

"Not any more.  You attempted to rescue you me from the horrors of Sade and brought me back here.  The debt has been cancelled."

"No it hasn't.  I didn't get you out of the prison place and it wasn't just me who brought you back."

"You owe me nothing."

"Stop being such a cold-hearted bastard, Sev.  I know you can be civil.  Underneath your callous exterior is an actual living person."

"You're hallucinating, McGee."

"No, I am not hallucinating.  I know we didn't have the greatest relationship when we were in school together."

Snape snorted.  "That's an understatement.  How many times did you take me out in the halls?  How many times was I forced to serve detention from the pranks pulled by your friends?  How many times have I been publicly humiliated because of you?"

"Too many," Andy whispered.  "Too many to count.  I want to put all of it aside as a truce."

"Why?"

"Because you saved my life.  I don't want to go around with a permanent grudge against you while I still owe you something."

"Fine, truce."

Andy gave his limp hand a squeeze as a handshake.  "Truce.  Also, it was for protection since Sirius and I have your job."

"You what?"

"Dumbledore told me and Sirius to teach Potions for the rest of the year."

Snape moaned.  Things had gone from bad to worse.  "You aren't making this up, are you?"

"Nope, I'm not."

"I am going to kill him."

"No, you aren't."

"Give me one good reason why not."

"Because killing Sirius would infringe on your truce to me."

Behind his bandage, Snape raised his non-existent, burnt off eyebrows.  "How so?"

"Killing Sirius would damage my mental health.

"How would that be infringing on a truce when your mental health is not originally stable in the first place?"

"You cannot harm me directly or indirectly through the truce."

Snape swore vehemently.  "Are you sure you weren't a Slytherin in a past life?"

"The Hat almost put me there.  I refused to be a Slytherin since a handful of them were set to have my head."

"You really ought to learn to control that temper of yours."

"I never have."  Andy looked at her watch.  "I have to go.  The first years are coming in a few minutes.  'Bye."

Snape said nothing as she left the room.

Andy walked out of the room, smiling to herself.  She knew Snape could be civil if he tried hard enough.  Maybe it was that he was still in pain.  That must have been it.  Pain does strange things to some people.

Snape lay thinking again.  The visit had not been expected, though it was more pleasant than he had expected it to be.  He had expected at least a few barbed insults, maybe a few things thrown across the room at him, but none of that had come.  The Andy from his days as a student had been a typical Slytherin-hating Gryffindor yet she had been different.  She had given him the respect that he craved.  They had competed, fiercely, yes, but she had respected him as a person.  A few times, they had civil conversations in the library when no one else was around to hear.  She had been his only major competition in potions.  Sure, she was a girl and a Gryffindor, but there was never a challenge that he backed down from.

He recalled the first time that he had met Andromeda McGee.  He had known her name, but had never been fully introduced to her.  It was half way through the year when the old Potions Master had decided to pair the two of them together on a whim, just to see what would happen.  The professor had realized the high aptitude in both of them for potions making.  He had figured that if they were compatible, he might have them begin brewing more advanced mixtures.

Andy had been a good foot shorter than he was, even at age eleven.  They had been almost complete opposites: he, tall and dark, her, tiny and blonde.  She had approached him with a quiet air of self confidence.  "Listen, I know that you don't want to do this either, but I say we just get this over and done with."

"Fine by me."  Snape had fully expected to at least be insulted.  "Pass the lacewings."

The professor had been impressed by their creation and suggested to the head Master that they be moved into a more advanced class.  Dippet, the head Master at the time, had refused the idea, so the Potions Master had taken it upon himself to tutor the two of them after classes.  There had always bee a working relationship between the two of them, grown on respect, though their houses refused to let any friendships develop.

Snape sighed to himself.  He almost regretted that he would have to bring her to Voldemort.  If it had been any other Gryffindor, he would have done it at moments notice.  Andy was different.  He knew she didn't completely hate him.  It was the mutual respect cultivated from seven years of working together on advanced potions.  It had to be the respect thing.  There was nothing else to explain it.

{Author's Note:  The song that I quoted from in the beginning is one of the few songs that I can play from memory on my piano.  It's actually a really pretty song to play.  I like it.  This is yet again another, boring non-amusing chapter, but things will get better.  I just need to set a few things up.  

Atheis and Aeris Gainsborough:  Thank you for the three reviews!  About the HGTTG, 42 comes up in chapter 25 as a quote.  I have a slight obsession with those books, so I tend to quote from them a lot.  FUBAR is something I got from my dad.  The concept amuses me. Dvorak is a Czech composer.  Tchaikovsky wrote the music to the Nut Cracker.  Bizet wrote the music to the Opera Carmen, which is really fun to play on piano, by the way.  What kind of keyboards, mallet kind or piano like kind?  I play both, oddly enough.

WeasleyTwinsLover1112:  I'm glad you enjoyed what I have written so far.

Willow:  Most original?  I'm impressed.  This is just a bunch of random ideas that came from late nights, but thank you.

Anna Black: Actually it will end during this year.  I have the ending planned out, so it will end eventually.  Yes, it is slightly after Christmas, I think.

Josie:  That was my whole point.  I kept thinking of Mr. Bacon the entire time.

Phoenix Pendron:  Its good that you're curios.  Soy de una ciudad pequeña en Nueva York en los estados unidos.  Hablo un poco de español, pero hace cuatro años que yo estudio.  Soy la mejor en mi clase.

Hope you enjoyed it!  Peace, Love, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Nataly Ravenlock}


	19. Hence The Name Forbidden

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for the characters that are parts of my own imagination, mostly including Andromeda McGee and Wyvern}

**Chapter 19**

**Hence the Name Forbidden**

_**For when you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it a tiny little marker, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says "You are here."  Somewhere in Chapter 10 of "The Restaurant At the End of the Universe" by Douglas Adams**_

"Pray tell, what did you do?"  Sirius questioned as Andy made her way out of the corridor and into the potions dungeon.

"You suspect me of doing something already?"

"Considering you look like a cat that has just caught the biggest mouse of all time, yes, I do.  So 'fess up."

Andy gave him a smug look.  "I got Snape to promise not to kill you."

"How in the name of Merlin did you accomplish a miracle like that?"

"It's a secret.  You only need to know that he won't kill you without my consent."

"Oh, great," Sirius said sarcastically.  "All I have to do is stay on your good side and I won't die."

"That's one way of putting it, yes," She paused to think.  "So what exactly are you going to do with Lily and James's son?"

Sirius looked at her as if he hadn't really thought about it.  "I'll raise him, I suppose, until he leaves me.  Hell, Andy, he's sixteen now.  In a few years he'll be legal and free to do whatever he wants."

Andy laughed.  "Sorry, Sirius.  I just can't picture you as a parent."

"Who said anything about being a parent?"  I'll try to keep it at friend level.  Harry doesn't need a parent after all he's been through.  He needs some one he can trust, not some one to tell him what to do."

His counterpart shook her head.  "Sirius Black, you will never change."

The first years began to fill the room looking like they were about to enter a pit of poisonous vipers, which was not far from the truth given both professors' tempers and the fact that some where in the room there were probably poisonous vipers, pickled and canned.  They worked on basic skills for the class.  Thankfully the only interesting thing that happened was one group found a way to make their cauldron emit bright magenta smoke.  Soon that was cleaned up and done away with, though it did leave a spot of the same color on the ceiling.  They were done for the morning.  A quiet knock sounded at the door.  "Come on in."

Remus entered, closing the door behind him.  "Hullo.  I just wanted to see if the two of you had burned down the laboratory yet."

"Not yet, though we did end up with a pink spot on the ceiling."

"I kept waiting to hear some sort of explosion."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Remus."

"We'll try harder next time."

Remus shook his head at them, hiding a smile.  "Would you by any chance happen to have anymore of the Wolfsbane potion?"

"It's that time already?"

"Unfortunately, it is," the werewolf sounded depressed.

Andy dug through a shelf of bottles.  "No, no, no, that's definitely not it, no, no, not that one."  She turned back.  "Aw, shit."

"You don't have any, do you?"

"I'm afraid not and it would take too long to brew a batch of it."

"That's not good."

"We could do what we used to do," Sirius spoke up, sounding almost resigned.

"Sneak out and you transform?"

Sirius looked grave.  "Yes."

"I'm coming too," Andy decided stubbornly.

"Do you remember how to transform?"

"I think so."

"Then tonight, we go."

The afternoon crawled by at a snail's pace.  It was mid-November so the afternoons came earlier and darker.  Remus was looking decidedly ill during dinner.  Sirius and Andy escorted him outside to the forbidden forest and into the Shrieking Shack.

"Just like old times," the werewolf said weakly.  He clutched at his stomach feeling his insides shift and reform.

"It'll be all right, Moony.  We're here for you."

He flashed a quick grin that turned into an inhuman snarl.  His nails lengthen, fur growing thick on his hands, rippling up his arms.

"Should we?" Andy asked.

"Yes," Sirius blurred to his giant black dog form.

Andy took a deep breath, concentrating.  She felt her body melt away and reform.  Her muscles expanded, becoming stronger and more powerful.  She was a lynx, a feral cat.  She smiled a feline's toothy grin.  Now she knew where Dumbledore had gotten the surname for her earlier, unidentified self.

"Moony?" she whispered, approaching the werewolf.  "We're here for you."

Moony pulled himself to his paws.  "Padfoot, Shadow, it has been a long time."

"Yes, it has, my friend," Padfoot spoke.  "Shall we go?"  He pushed open the door with his forepaws.

Three creatures ran outside away from civilization and into the dark wilderness.  Their only light was the vibrant moon though they had been there before and needed no guidance.  They dashed through the trees following ancient, familiar paths of their youth.  Up and down hillocks, rolling in dirt, chasing animals that would have been a late dinner, they did it all.  Wolf, dog, and lynx paused at the edge of the forest to watch the sunrise and howled at the passing moon.

"Good-bye, Moony," Padfoot growled.

"Until we meet again."

Moony's change back to human was as painful, if not more painful than his change to wolf.  His fur shortened and diminished.  Fangs became normal teeth and paws changed to normal human limbs.  He slumped to the ground, utterly exhausted.  Padfoot and Shadow transformed back to their humanoid selves.

"Moony, are you all right?"

He smiled weakly.  "I'm as fine as I'll ever be."

Padfoot gave him a hand up.  "Come on.  Let's get you back.  We all need sleep."

Remus stumbled as he took a step.  Both Andy and Sirius were there to catch him.  He felt his arms being draped around their shoulders for his support.  "Thank you, my friends.  I owe you."

"You owe us nothing, Moony.  Friends don't let friends be alone when they need somebody.  That's what we're here for."

"Besides, I miss doing that," Sirius added cheerfully.  "Being able to run free, wind at your back, and not a care in the world."

The threesome slowly approached the Hogwarts castle.  "Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

"I'll be fine.  I just need a little rest."

They brought the werewolf back to his quarters.  Andy gave them a quick "Be right back," and ran off.  Remus collapsed into a chair with a heavy sigh.  How many times had they done that for him, keeping him out of harm's way in the light of the full moon?  They had put themselves in danger more times than he could count, just for him.  'Friends don't let friends be alone,' was that what she had said?  Yes, he thought so.  He was glad that he had someone now.  Those ten years with no one to trust had been a living hell.  Then the Wolfsbane potion had been perfected.  That helped a little, though physical support was more effective.

Andy dashed back into the room, arms full with bottles.  She dumped the lot onto the floor and began to pick through it.  She handed a few to Remus.  "They're rejuvenatives and pain killers.  They might help.  Sirius, catch."  She threw one at him as well.  Luckily, Padfoot still had relatively good reflexes and succeeded in not dropping the bottle.  Andy downed one herself with a shake of her head.

"What did you do, hijack the infirmary?"  Sirius joked.

"Oh, yes, at sword point.  No, actually they were supposed to go to the infirmary and just never got there.  We ran away before they could be delivered."  She pulled out a large careen and summoned three mugs from a nearby shelf.  A distinctive aroma filled the room as the seal was cracked.

"Coffee?" Remus asked curiously.

"Yep, coffee."

"Do I need to ask why it is coming from an over sized Erlenmeyer flask?"

Andy chuckled.  "I stopped by the kitchens.  The flask was clean and empty, so it served its purpose."

Remus rubbed his forehead.

"Plus, caffeine is good for headaches, which if I remember correctly are one of the after effects of transformation."

"Sometimes, Andy, you amaze me."

"That's quite all right.  I tend to amaze myself more times than not."

Sirius looked at the clock.  "Breakfast should be starting soon.  You up to it, Moony?"

Remus blinked a few times to regain focus.  "What?"

"Food, breakfast, now.  Are you up to it?"

"I think so."  He rose to his feet letting his back pop.  "That felt better.  The potions seemed to help."  He was still unsteady but not as much as he had been before.  "Food usually helps."

"Then let us go eat."

"Moony, I'm leaving the remainder of the potions with you.  All of them should be labeled.  If my hand writing was actually legible, you might be able to read them."

Sirius opened the door, ushering them out.  Remus was limping slightly but was stable enough not to fall over.  "Breakfast is waiting," Padfoot tapped his foot impatiently.

Andy made some comment about men and food.

"That was uncalled for."  Remus stopped to let a muscle spasm pass.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine.  Stop worrying about me."

"Moony, I have pause I don't know how many lost years that I was incapable of worrying about you.  And you're wrong; you aren't fine.  You're a werewolf.  Then again the rest of us aren't fine either."

"You're fully human."

"Azkaban does things to a person.  I spent a few years talking with the spiders in my cell."

"I thought you had been Silenced."

"I was.  They were telepathic spiders."

"Did they talk back?"

She looked him straight in the eye.  "Yes they did."

The Great Hall was relatively empty given that it was early on a Saturday morning and those who had their priorities set straight were still dreaming.  There were a few stragglers at each of the tables, though the staff table was relatively filled.  Professor McGonagall's eyes narrowed at their approach.

"You notice that she still doesn't trust us?"

"Well, of course, she doesn't trust us.  You have half the group that caused her the most trouble in all her years at Hogwarts," Remus explained.

The trio took seats at McGonagall's end of the table just to irk her.  She didn't look too extremely happy about this.

"Okay, this is getting on my nerves," Andy muttered.  She raised her voice slightly.  "Professor McGonagall?"

"Yes?"

"We are all mature adults here, not children.  Please do not hold a grudge against us from what we have done in the past."

Dumbledore smiled from his place at the center of the table.  He knew very well that Minerva McGonagall had been completely against their hirings.

"I think that might have been a little much too blunt," Remus muttered.

"Oh, well.  I got my point across."

Sirius had a merry twinkle in his eyes.  "Mature adults?  Adults yes, but mature is only a state of mind."

"Sirius, shut up."

{Author's Note:  The whole point of this chapter was a result of being bored on a four hour car trip to my grandmother's house.  It's amazing how much you can write is six days when you have nothing else to do except lie in a hammock and swim in the lake.  I apologize for taking so long to post this one.  I spent 39 hours in the past week at Marching Band Camp, which consisted of spending nine hours a day for four days and three hours on Friday playing my clarinet and marching.  We learned many pointless things, as well as drill sets and the music.  Some of these include that the flautists have little people on the end of their flutes that were named such things as Billy Bob Joe, Bob, Lollipop, and Sylvester, and if the flute people fall off the flutes they will get smushed by the drummers or eaten by the color guard.  We also learned that if we play the music pretty, people will throw babies and small kitchen appliances at us. "Timmy!  To the tubas!  Any of the three of them!  Wheeeeeee!  Thunk!"   Needless to say, my mouth hurts, my legs hurt, and I have a really wonderful farmer's tan!  

Atheis Gainsborough:  Mallets are like the xylophone.  I've played piano for about six years, though I've gone through about three teachers.  I've taught myself a bit of it.  I play what ever music I can find.  Right now I'm conquering the songs from Harry Potter.  Some of them are plain evil to play, especially the one entitled "Voldemort."  But I won't go into that.  I do some things by ear, but since I have no trouble reading music, it's easier to find the sheet music.  FUBAR was just a random acronym that I like.  As for Peanut Butter Cups, well…Let's just say it's an understatement that I'm obsessed with anything peanut butter.  Spanish happens to be one of my better subjects.  One of my friends left another review in Spanish, so I responded to it in the same language.  Some one else noticed that and asked about it, so I responded again in the same language.  I don't speak German yet.  The school that I go to now doesn't have a good German program.  I think we have one class of it, so I'll probably take it my senior year.  Andy is an interesting character.  Honestly, she's one of my few three-dimensional characters that I've done.  She was developed as I began to write the story, so there no solid background to her.  Her background is only known from my imagination.  Pit bull is an inside joke.  It's one of my nicknames, though that's the only part of her that we share similarities wise.  It came from a Martial Arts class in which we did something called sparring, which is controlled fighting in a ring while protected by foam guards.  The guy who I was sparring was about a foot taller than me and out weighed me by a good hundred pounds.  After the match, he commented to my dad, who was the instructor at the class, "Sparring your daughter is like sparring a pitbull."  So the nickname stuck, I am Pit bull, and people are afraid to spar me.  Thanks for the long review.  I love long reviews!

WeasleyTwinsLover1112:  Here is your request for more. Thanks for the review.

Peace, Love, and Tie-dye, Nataly Ravenlock}


	20. Questions and Answers

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for the characters that are parts of my own imagination, mostly including Andromeda McGee and Wyvern}

**Chapter 20**

**Questions and Answers**

_**"The dew," he observed, "has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning."  Marvin the Paranoid Android, Chapter 7, Life, The Universe, and Everything Douglas Adams**_

There was a staff meeting following breakfast.  All of the teachers met in the staff room around the enormous table used for such meetings.  Dumbledore sat at the head of the table with Professor McGonagall to his right hand side.  "I would like to start this meeting by welcoming Sirius Black and Andromeda McGee to our staff."  There was a polite smattering of applause, though most of the teachers at the school still held grudges against both of them for what they had done in the past.

"The main reason of this meeting is to plan a new idea.  At the end of this year I would like to hold a student-faculty Quidditch match."

A stunned silence covered everyone.  A few faces held pleasant grins on remembering their Quidditch playing days.  "Your opinions please."

McGonagall looked dumbfounded.  "Why would we hold such an event, Albus?"

"To boost school pride.  Everyone would come.  Think how entertaining it would be."

"I think it would be a great idea," Sirius said just to disagree with McGonagall, though he really did treasure the idea of playing competitive Quidditch again.  "I know I'm not the only one who would be willing to play."

"I would," Andy spoke up.  "How many times do we get the opportunity to compete against the students?  You can't tell me that none of you have been tempted just to smack some of them."  A few chuckled, quite well knowing that she had meant herself when she was at school.

"It wouldn't be that hard to organize a team.  I'd be willing to do so," Madame Hooch said.  "We could practice either before or after classes.  I know when all the teams are scheduled to use the pitch so we wouldn't have to worry about their interference."

"Very well then.  Madame Hooch, you are the captain of team.  Find players, train them, and I will get a date set for the game.  Those of you, who wish to play, see Madame Hooch after the meeting.  Now on to other matters."  Dumbledore went on to discuss teaching tactics, problem students, and overall student development.  The meeting was adjourned leaving those who wished to play Quidditch with Madame Hooch.

"All right, let's get this started.  We need three Chasers, two Beaters, a Keeper, and a Seeker."  She did a quick count of the number of people that had shown up.  "There is a total of six of you.  We will need one more eventually.  Who wants which position?"

Sirius and Andy shared an evil grin.  "We're your Beaters, Andy and I."

"Yes, you would be.  If I remember correctly, the two of you were a pair of human Bludgers and sent more people to the infirmary than any other team."

"That was us."

"We have the Beaters, then.  Who wants to be Keeper?"

"I am, or at least I was one once," Remus spoke up quietly.

"Fine.  I'm going to be one of the Chasers.  Neither of you were Seekers, were you?"

"No," answered Professor Vector, the arithmancy instructor.  "I was a Chaser for Ravenclaw."

"I was a Chaser as well," the velvety night sky voice of the Astronomy teacher, Professor Sinistra spoke.

"Then it is settled.  All we need is a Seeker."

"Too bad Snape's not here."  The team turned to look at Andy as if she had grown a few more heads.  "What?  He was Seeker for Slytherin when we were at school."

A few of the Professors nodded.  Madame Hooch continued.  "Ask him, then, where ever he is.  I will get notices out as to our first practice.  Anything else?  No?  This meeting has come to a close." The six remaining professor left the room to go do what ever they had planned for a Saturday afternoon.  A hand on Andy's shoulder caused her to stop.  She had been able to control herself enough not to flip the other people who touched her.

"Hello, Professor Vector," Andy recognized the woman.  She had taken over the Arithmancy position in her third year just after she had gotten out of school.

"We are colleagues now, Andromeda.  There is no need for formalities.  You are serious about Snape, aren't you?"

"Completely."

"How do you expect him to listen to you when he's a Slytherin and you're a Gryffindor?"

"He will listen to me."

Vector shook her head.  "You always were the stubborn one."

"I still am."  She flashed her a quick grin as she disappeared down the hallway to the infirmary.  Andy didn't bother to ask Madame Pomfrey and walked right into Snape's little room.  "I'm back!"

"I'd be more thrilled, but exuberance is not my forte at the moment."

"Do you know when you'll be out of here?"

"No."

"How about by January?"

"She said maybe by Christmas at the earliest."

"Wonderful!" Andy exclaimed, showing that she would be exuberant even if he wouldn't be.

"Why is it wonderful?"

She pulled up a chair next to his bed.  "Dumbledore decided that we were going to have a student verses faculty Quidditch match."

"Let me guess, you and Black," he spat the name as if the mere sound of it was foul.  "Are the Beaters.  Lupin is Keeper.  The Chasers are Hooch and who else?"

"Vector and Sinistra."

"That could be worse.  Who's Seeker?"

"You."

"Me?" Snape asked, not seeming to understand her on the first attempt.

"Yes, you.  You played Seeker for Slytherin when we were in school."

"McGee, I want you to take a look at what state I'm in."

"Miami?" she answered hopefully.

"For your information however dense you may be, Miami is not a state, it's a city."

"I knew that."

"Right.  I was attacked by a fire breathing demonic dragon!  I'm blind for the Gods' sakes!"

"So?  I can see that."

"How the hell can I play Seeker if I can't see ten centimeters in front of my face?!"  Snape tried to raise himself off his pillows.

Andy put a hand on his chest forcing him back down into his bed.  "Calm down.  I'm not as stupid as you seem to think I am.  Madame Pomfrey can heal your eyes.  It might just take a while.  You could wear glasses, you know.  They do work."

Snape tried to force his way upright again, but Andy still held him down.  He was too weak to resist.  He collapsed downward, chest heaving rapidly with the strain of breathing.  "You little bitch."

"You know, Sev, I bet I could talk McGonagall into being Seeker if you won't."

"McGonagall doesn't know a Snitch from a cactus."  It probably wasn't a true fact, but it was the thought that counted.

"All right let us try a new approach.  "Which team is most likely to win Quidditch cup?  Be honest now, Sev."

"Gryffindor," he spat.  "With their bloody potter as bloody Seeker."  There was a pause as he realized what she was getting at.  "Oh."

"Now you see where I was going with this?"

"I do.  If we win, I can bring Potter down with one fell swoop."

Andy could have sworn she saw wheels turning in his head.  "So are you in?"

"I am your Seeker.  What shape is the rest of the team in?"

"It could be worse."

"That is not what I wanted to hear."

"Fine.  Sirius and I were two of the most dangerous Beaters in Gryffindor history.  Hooch called us human Bludgers.  That is as long as I can keep Sirius from shooting the Bludgers at you, which I can do."

"You have an extreme amount of faith in yourself."

"Without faith in yourself, how can you have faith in others?"

"Shut up, McGee.  What other assets do we have?"

"Remus is Keeper.  With his reflexes, we're great."

"I don't know where you get these ideas, having homicidal Beaters and a werewolf for Keeper.  What else?

"We have you and if I remember correctly, Slytherin only lost to Gryffindor a few times when you were Seeker and won all of the rest of their matches.  Plus you're a Slytherin, so that gives us the upper hand on tactics."

"Illegal or legal?"

"Sev, you know more ways to find loop holes in rules than anyone else I have ever known.  You also know the Quidditch rule book cover to cover.  The Gryffindors don't."

Snape could see exactly where she was going with this.  "How about the Chasers?"

"They're our weakest point, I think.  Hooch can fly better than about everybody.  Vector and Sinistra were both Chasers at one point in time though I don't know how good they were."

"Vector was for Ravenclaw.  Sinistra was Hufflepuff.  They're mediocre," Snape interjected.

"Ouch.  Is she still?"

"A Hufflepuff?  Yes, as far as I can tell."

"Damn.  There goes using her for illegal tactics."

"Since when do Gryffindors start being illegal?" he sneered.

"Since this Gryffindor ended up locked in a dark cell for sixteen years.  Any moral values that I once had were lost forever."

Snape contemplated for a moment.  "I suppose that's probably the best team we can muster up from who we have.  Flitwick, Sprout, McGonagall, Dumbledore, and the rest of them won't play.  Hagrid won't fit on a broomstick, so yes.  That's the best we can do."

"Oh, good.  I'm glad you agree," Andy decided sarcastically.  "Because if you didn't, all hope would be lost."

"Cut the sarcasm, McGee.  It doesn't suit you."

"How do you know it doesn't suit me?  You barely knew me during school.  Hell, you barely know me now.  For all you know, I could be in my birthday suit pole dancing."

"What?!"

Andy slumped into the chair laughing hysterically.  "That was priceless!  Never mind.  Just never mind."

"I am going to ignore the pictures that you just gave me."

"Thank you.  I shall do the same.  Now back to Quidditch.  Where were we?"

"For a team we have two Ravenclaws and a Hufflepuff for Chasers, one of them being extremely skilled with flying, a werewolf as Keeper, two Kamikaze Beaters, and me as Seeker," he reiterated.  "The Gryffindors don't stand a chance."

"You don't get any adjectives?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you could have at least used some description, such as maybe evil, demonic, or vampirical, et cetera."

"McGee, I am a Slytherin.  That does not necessarily make me evil.  I am not demonically possessed and as much as people are convinced that I am one, I am not in any way, shape, or form part vampire or full vampire."

"Damn," Andy swore.  "I was hoping on using the fangs as a scare tactic."

"Don't you have anything more useful to do than bother me?"

"No, come to think of it, I don't.  Sirius said that he would grade the essays, so I am completely free."

"That was not what I wanted to hear."

"Would you like me to leave?"

"McGee, it is not whether I want you to leave or not."

"Then what is it?"

"You said yesterday that most people don't like me.  It's the truth.  And, yes, a person does get lonely locked in a dark room."

Andy grinned.  "Is that as close to a thank you as I'm going to get?"

"Slytherins don't thank people, they manipulate them."

"So what are you getting at here?"

"I want to know why a Gryffindor like you is purposely going out of your way to visit a Slytherin like me, life debt notwithstanding.  Your life debt didn't make you come back to see we today."

"No, Hooch did actually.  I just happened to open my big mouth at the wrong time when I remembered that you had been a Seeker.

"So you aren't here of your own free will?"

"I am.  I could have forced Sirius to come but I didn't want to wake anyone up from the shouting and throwing things."

"How considerate of you."

"Yes, I am here of my own free will."

"Then why did you come?"

"Because you are a cruel, cold hearted bastard with no empathy towards others.  That's why, okay?"

"And you are an obstinate, self important little bitch with a temper problem."

"Thank you.  Now that we have found each other's major faults, can we move on to other topics?"

"Like why you came here?"

"Fine you want answers?  I came here because I used to respect you.  You were strong, self confident, yet you never let your guard down for an instant.  I couldn't get inside you mind. That's what always intrigued me about you.  You were a closed and locked book, and I respected that.  Is that what you wanted?"

Snape heard her stomp out of the room.  He knew that she would be back eventually.  He didn't quite comprehend what she had meant by what she had said.  'closed and locked book?'  Sometimes, she just completely confused the hell out of him.  He had almost wanted her to stay, to talk more.  She had been right.  He did get lonely after a while.  Snape thought for a few moments.  She was one of the few people who saw him as a human being with flaws and problems, yet she wanted his advice on Quidditch of all topics.  Snape sighed to himself.  It was going to be rather difficult having to turn her into Lord Voldemort.  Oh, well.

{Author's Note:  The entire point of having a Quidditch Match was (1) I was bored and (2) I just felt like forcing Snape and Sirius to cooperate and get some more verbal abuse going, which I enjoy full heartedly.  This chapter was written in a hammock by the shore of a lake.  What fun!  Of course, that was during the week of the fourth of July and I'm finally getting around to posting it, but that's quite alright.  I've been trying to finish this fic and it has been going no where in particular.  I'm up to chapter 28 right now and a few people *ahem*Jess*ahem* have been giving me ideas again, so things shall continue for a while just so I manipulate it into a further twistedness.  See, I was going to finish this after the trials and everything would have been fine, but no!  Did any one think I could do that?  Of course not!  Then I was going to stop at chapter 30, but a conversation last night that lasted until two in the morning gave me other ideas see mentioned person above.  So I shall leave with this in explanation that I have more to write!  Enjoy!

Atheis Gainsborough:  Yes, I do appreciate long reviews.  Mallets are like the xylophone and stuff like that.  I played one last year and hated it.  It was loud, high pitched, and annoying, which is one of the main reasons that I switched instruments to the clarinet.  Fluffy's Harp is a good song, though it's a bear to play.  It has triplets made of 32nd notes with the counter melody played in left hand with regular eighth notes.  Voldemort just has all sorts of sharps and flats and is rather annoying because there's so many of them.  There are some good songs in the book, though.  Hedwig's Theme is pretty easy to play.  Harry's Wondrous World is about eleven pages long and changes time signatures every few pages.  There's a piece called Nimbus 2000 that's from the song Mr. Longbottom Flies, which is fun to play.  The only piece that I can play in the book currently is entitled Family Portrait, which my friend and I think is from the scene with the Mirror of Erised.  It's a great book, keeps me occupied for long periods of time, which is not that hard to do.  (This is from someone who spent an entire art class making origami figures out of Tootsie Pop wrappers, including some hopping frogs and was flipping the frogs across the table.)  As for the Peanut Butter, I have done that before.  I mainly tend to eat peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast.  Usually its peanut and raison or peanut butter and marshmallow on a taco shell, for breakfast.  I advise you to ignore any strange comments through out this fic, such as the "Mature is only a state of mind."  There are many worse ones.  Yes, I did beat up the guy at karate.  He is about seven ranks below me and I am a Second Degree Black Belt, so it wasn't that difficult to do.  Most of the people there fear me for some reason.  I don't know why.  I'm not that scary!  I would like to congratulate you for being a Slytherin.  Most people seem to dislike the concept.  I, for one, am also a serpent.  So are two of my good friends.  (One of the others is a Gryffindor, and I don't know about the rest, but three of us are most definitely Slytherin.)  So I shall leave with this:  Slytherin Rocks!  I'm way too hyper right now.  Sorry about that.

WeasleyTwinslover1112:  Here is more for you.  Thanks, I'll get better eventually.

Iggie:  I sent you 28 to make you happy.  Or at least I think I sent you 28.  If not, I can send you 28.

Anna Black:  No problem, don't mind at all.  Honestly don't care either.  Shadow was the name of one of my best bud's cats.  She was a cute little black kitten but they had to put her to sleep because she was diagnosed with feline leukemia.  So that's where my Shadow came from, don't ask what it has to do with the story, because there is nothing to do with the story, just random thoughts.  I apologize for going off on the lyrics to that song.  I happen to like it and I can play it on my piano and I can actually sing it since the version I have is in my range!  Yes!  Never mind…Don't give me coffee ice cream ever again.

Reviews are always welcome!  Just in case you need more fics to read, these are some that I recommend:

Seeing Grey by Iggie:  A well written Remus fic that goes in some really cool ideas about Lycanthropy and Remus's past.

Black Prospects by Kary Starr:  A Snape fic that is rather dark, but fun because of all the sarcasm and violence.  And it has Snape, need I say more?

Peace, Love, and Peanut Butter Butterscotch Cookies, Nataly Ravenlock The One and Only and Rather Hyper and Odd One}


	21. To Be Beaten

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for the characters that are parts of my own imagination, mostly including Andromeda McGee and Wyvern}

**Chapter 21**

**To Be Beaten**

_**"Arthur felt happy.  He was terribly pleased that the day was for once working out so much according to plan.  Only twenty minute ago he had decided he would go mad, and now here he was already chasing a __Chesterfield__ sofa across the fields of prehistoric Earth."  Chapter 2,  Life, The Universe, and Everything Douglas Adams**_

Andy stormed out of the infirmary.  Sometimes Snape went too far.  He was a Slytherin on top of everything else.  It was his nature to be cruel and manipulative.  She let herself wander outside around the grounds.  The weather was cooling rapidly so not many people were outdoors.  The lake seemed to beckon to her.  Andy sat on its shore skipping pebbles across the mirrored surface.  One, two, three, plunk.  One, two, plunk.  One, two, three, four, seven, eight, fourteen, sixteen, nineteen, plunk.  "That was cheating."

"It got your attention, didn't it?"

"It did," she admitted.  "What do you want, Moony?"

"Sirius was worried about where you ran off to."

"So he sent you to find me?"

"I saw you out the window and came down.  I take it that the meeting with Snape did not go well?"

Andy turned to look at the werewolf.  "No meeting with Snape goes well."

"What did he say about the Quidditch match?"

"He said he'll do it."

Remus seemed shocked.  "How did you get him to agree?"

"The usual, threaten him, tell him we were going to get McGonagall to play if he didn't, mentioned that we would probably end up having to play Gryffindor."

"That got him, didn't it?  He'd be going against Harry."

"Exactly.  Then we traded a good amount of insults and I walked out."

"Sounds like old times."

"Time never grows old, everything else does."

Remus nodded thoughtfully.  "He didn't have a problem with Sirius?"

"Severus Snape will always have a problem with Sirius Black.  Personally, I don't believe he was thinking straight and was too overly thrilled by being able to take on Potter.  He did call us homicidal and Kamikaze, if that helps."

"I would have expected worse."

"Later, I have to beat it into both their thick skulls that only after the match can they kill each other."

"That would be an interesting spectacle: Death Eater verses Convicted Murderer and Azkaban escapee."

"I was joking."

"I know.  Why are you taking this on yourself, Andy?"

"You mean Snape?"

"Yes."

"Because no one else will.  The rest of the team is either terrified of him, wants to kill him, or purposely ignores him with no connections what so ever."

"And you don't apply to any of these?"

"Oh, he has plenty of grudges against me.  I guess it's a mutual respect thing.  The old Potions Master took Snape and me under his wing and taught us more advanced potion making.  We learned to put up with each other."

"So that's why you always disappeared down to the Potions Dungeons.  I always wondered about that."

"Well, now you know.  I only said it was for academic purposes."

"Sirius would have killed someone if he knew it was just you and Snape in the dungeons."

"Which is exactly why you won't tell him before the Quidditch match or I will personally have your head on a dinner platter."

"I wouldn't even think of it."

"You always were the trustworthy one."

"You kept my secret.  I can keep yours.  We ought to head back up before Sirius has a kitten or two, as amusing as that would be."

Andy smiled.  Trust Moony to try and cheer her up.  "All right.  Let's go."  She threw the last stone that she had been holding into the lake.

Sirius was waiting for them in the Potions Dungeon.  "Where the hell have you been?"

"I don't even get a 'hello, Andy, how are you?'  I thought you said you weren't going to be a parent because you sure are damn well acting like one."

"Andy, I…"

She cut him off sharply.  "I don't care, okay, you can worry all you want about me, but it's not going to help.  I can take care of myself, Sirius.  You seem to be forgetting that we've all grown up or maybe you haven't, but the rest of us have."

Sirius held out his hands to ward her off.  "Jeezum, calm down."  He grabbed her by the shoulders to look her straight in the eyes.  "I have the right to be worried about you, Andy.  The last time you disappeared you didn't come back."

She gave him a sad smile.  "I apologize.  I'm not used to having people to worry about me."

Sirius pulled her into him.  "Don't ever leave me again."

"Ahem," Remus cleared his throat.

"Sorry," Sirius had the right to look abashed.

"Were you felling left out?  Did you want a hug too?" Andy almost sounded innocent for a moment as she embraced Remus.  The werewolf turned a shade of magenta.

"Come on, you two.  Gryffindor's on the Quidditch pitch for practice.  I want to go watch Harry."

The Gryffindor Quidditch team was already in the air practicing.  The three Chasers were attempting to score on their new Keeper, Ron Weasley.  The other Weasleys on the team were hitting Bludgers at each other and Harry was simply flying around working on maneuvering through his dives.  Sirius waved to his godson.

"Professor, watch out!  Bludger!"

Andy grabbed a sturdy stick that was lying nearby on the ground.  She whacked the Bludger up towards the clouds in the sky, sending a rise of dust with the tree branch.

"That was awesome!  You could have been a great Beater, professor!" one of the Weasley twins exclaimed.

"Thank you, Fred. And for your information, I was a Beater once."

"How can you tell us apart?"

"What team did you play for?"

Andy grinned at their exuberance.  "That would be classified information and Gryffindor, of course."

"Do you still play?"

"We can find out."  She looked at Sirius with a maniacal glint in her eye.  "Want to have a go?"  Sirius could only return her expression.  He had missed doing this.  The duo grabbed the extra brooms leaning against the wall and the other pair of bats.

"Let's get 'em!"  They jumped onto the broomsticks, rocketing into the sky.

"Come on, Weasleys give us your best shot!"

Fred shot one Bludger high to the left while George hit the other one in the opposite direction.  Sirius accelerated upward, bat smacking the ball back towards the earth.  Andy had dived low, scooping up underneath it and ricocheting the deranged object into a collision with its twin.  Both Bludgers flew in completely different directions than they had come from originally.  The Weasley twins raced after them, putting the Bludgers back into play.  Black over estimated the trajectory and had to leap off his broom to return the shot.  His balance fell short, dropping him downward.  Andy dove to catch him on the back of her broom and returning him to his own while at the same time keeping the Bludgers from pummeling them.  Sirius went off in the other direction leaving Andy to go back to catching the low ones.  She dived back down, not able to get far enough below the Bludger to hit it solidly.  She let herself barrel roll upside down and cracked it from there.

"Team!" bellowed Angelina Johnson, the new team captain.  "Meeting!"

The Weasley brothers rocketed back to the ground followed by Andy and Sirius.

"Where's the box?" Sirius asked tersely as the Bludgers began to descend.  One of the Chasers gestured to the side where the open box lay.  The Bludgers plummeted back to earth, Sirius grappling with one and Andy tackling the other.  They fought to get the Quidditch balls back into their harnesses.

"Damn feisty little things," Andy muttered.

"Watch the language.   There are minors around."

The team meeting was relatively short, given that its only purpose was to disclose the time of their next practice.  Remus came down from his seat in the stands.  "You two are going to kill yourselves doing that."

"Hey, if it works, it works," Sirius shrugged.

"We have yet to kill each other."

The Weasley twins rushed over.  "How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"The thing where you jumped off the broom, while still hitting the Bludger," told Fred, obviously wanting to try it.

"It only takes practice and complete trust in the other person," Sirius explained."

"How about the flip thing?"

"It's a barrel roll, just staying upside down.  The major secret to it is to grip the broom with your feet and your arm so you don't fall off."

"Thanks, professors," the Weasley twins left the field chatting about attempting the new maneuvers.

"Hey, Sirius," Harry approached the group, Firebolt in hand.

"Hullo, Harry."

"How come you never told me you were a Beater?"

"I don't know.  I guess I just forgot about it."

"You sure gave Fred and George a run for their money."

"We were some of the best Beaters in the entire history of Hogwarts.  Right, Andy?"

Andy turned from her in depth conversation with Remus about how they were not going to kill themselves with the Bludgers.  "Wrong.  We were the best."

"Harry, I'd like you to meet Andy McGee.  She's another one from the group of your father and mother's friends.  Andy, meet Harry Potter."

They shook hands.  "You knew my parents?"

"Lily and I were the only two female Gryffindors that year.  It would be almost impossible for us not to have known each other.  You could say we were best friends, nearly inseparatable."

"Hey!" Sirius interjected.  "What about me?"

"Boyfriends don't count."

"Oh," Sirius looked upset.

"It was through Sirius I met your father.  You have his Quidditch skills.  He was a fabulous Seeker, certainly caused Snape enough agony."

"Professor Snape was a Seeker?"

"He was, though your father beat him more times than not."

"That would probably be another reason why he hates me so much," Harry mused.

"Among other things, yes it would be."

Ron waved from near the entrance.  "I have to go.  We're off to Hogsmeade this afternoon.  'Bye!"  Harry ran off with his friend.

"He reminds me so much of James at that age, it's almost frightening.'

"It is.  It really is."

{Author's Note:  And the point of this chapter was only because I had the scene with the Bludgers going through my head at odd hours of the night and needed to write it down before it haunted my dreams forever and ever.  Oh, well.  The good stuff is coming soon! 

Anna Black:  Fine, I've changed it.  You have to excuse me for a moment.  Prisoner of Azkaban is currently residing in my aunt's house, since she had yet to give it back to me.  Grrr…You know how many times I have needed it to double check things in it and haven't been able to?  I completely agree!  Coffee ice cream rocks!  The cat thing was a long time ago.  I'm surprised I remembered it.  No, I wasn't going to ask about your friends.  As long as you don't ask about mine, we're perfectly wonderful.  They are all a bunch of psychos, in case you were wondering.  I happen to be a singer/musician/et cetera kind of person, so I know lyrics and I still have the song going through my head.  It's fighting with the Marching Band music.

Iggie:  Yes, you got a plug.  You deserve it.  Go do what ever kind of happy dance you want to.  You gave me one, I return the favor.

Peace, Love, and Coffee Ice Cream, Nataly Ravenlock}


	22. Learning To Crawl

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for the characters that are parts of my own imagination, mostly including Andromeda McGee and Wyvern}

**Chapter 22**

**Learning to Crawl**

_**Can you teach me how to fly?/ See I'm scared to die?/ I've only just begun to learn to crawl/ Can you teach me how to fight?/ Keep me up all night?/ Be there on the ground if I should fall?/ Fall to you?  "Learn to Crawl" Back Lab**_

Snape awoke from another bought of nightmare ridden dreams with a weight upon his chest.  It was not an imagined weight from grief or pain, but an actual tangible object.  Tentatively he reached his hand out from under the infirmary class striped blanket to touch something rather furry.  It felt alive and some how it was vibrating off of an internal motor of some sorts.  'Cat,' he thought to himself, deciding that the only fluffy creatures that usually lived at Hogwarts were of feline origin.  "Go away, cat," he spoke to it.  "I don't need you."

"Mrur?" the cat asked.

"I told you to go away.  You are getting fur all over my robes."

"You aren't wearing any robes," a droll sarcastic voice entered the conversation.

Snape recognized it immediately.  "Get your cat off me, McGee."

"Wyvern, get down."

Wyvern purred loader and began to knead the blankets on top of Snape, unheeding of her mistress's wishes.

"It isn't moving."

"Yes, she is.  Her paws are moving.  I think she likes you."

"I do not care if it likes me or not, just remove it from atop of my chest.'

"Fine," Andy sounded resigned.  She picked up the purring cat and set her on a chair.  The cat began to knead the soft cushion.  "Stay, Wyvern."  The cat squeaked in response.

"What do you want now, McGee?"

"Poppy wants to get you moving again.  She feels that dormant muscles won't help your recovery.  Personally, I have a feel that she doesn't like you being in her territory.  Were you being an insufferable git again?"

Snape chose to ignore the comment.  He had only snapped at her twice in the past few hours.  "If you want to be of assistance, you could take this bandage off of my eyes."

"I cannot promise how much you will be able to see.  Optical repair is extremely slow."  She gently removed the cloth from over his eyes.

Snape blinked.  At least it wasn't completely black anymore.  It was more like shades of gray with fuzzy outlines.

"Can you see anything?"

"Right now, you are a gray blur.  Not that it is much of a change from your normal state of being."

"That's encouraging.  Now we only have to get you out of bed and into some robes."

Snape could feel her flip back the sheets.  There was a slight pause with no sound followed by a bit of sniggering.  "Well, that answers that age old question."

"What now, McGee?"

"The question of boxers or briefs, obviously your answer is boxers as green and black snake skinned as they may be."

"Give me my robes." Snape was glad that he had never been able to blush very well.

"May I get a camera first?"

"No."  He felt a pile of cloth land on his lap and slowly sat up.  He had never felt worse in his life.  Swift fingers pulled the clothing from where it sat and dressed him with utmost care.

"You are putting on your own pants."  She waited for him to do so.  "Now stand up." Snape felt his arm being lifted onto her shoulder.  Andy pushed herself standing forcing him up as well.  "Come on.  We are just going to circumnavigate the room."

He took a stumbling step forward away from her support.  He could do it himself.  There was no way he was going to show signs of his weakness.  His foot caught something, pitching him forward.  Andy was there in an instant, keeping him on his feet.  "You can lean on me, you know.  The doors are closed.  No one can see you except for me and Wyvern."

Snape tentatively placed his hand on her shoulder.  She was strong and willing to support him.  It took a good half of an hour to get him all the way around the room.

"We're back at your bed.  Here," she gently pushed him back down.  Snape, who had not been expecting anything, grabbed onto her robes, pulling her on top of him.  "Oof!  Gee, Sev, I never knew.  You hid it so well."

He rolled her off and sat up.  "That was not supposed to happen."

"It's all right.  I understand."  Andy moved around behind him and began to massage his shoulders on a spur of a moment whim.  "Jeez, you're tense.  You ought to learn to relax."

Snape could feel her fingers work at his muscles.  They circled with light pressure, gently probing the knots.  "Why are you doing this, McGee?"

"It's fun.  I used to do this to people, give back massages."

He stayed quiet for a moment, letting the rhythm of her hands relax him.  She had done this before, he remembered, after a long day when they had met in the Potions Dungeon and were waiting for the mixture to finish simmering.  She had been the only person who would willingly give him a back massage.  Not even his past girl friends had done so, when his mother had tried to play match maker with him, that is.  His mother had given up after a while, not that it mattered much.   She was dead now.  "What did you mean yesterday?"

"About what?" she sounded distracted.

"You said I intrigued you."

"Oh, that.  You don't act human.  You keep all your emotions to yourself.  You can usually read people by their eyes, but I never could with you.  I could only find anger and resentment."

"And this intrigued you?"

"Well, yes.  Eyes are the windows to the soul.  It got me wondering if you had one."

"Do I?"

"You do," she decided stubbornly.  "It also helps that you remind me of my brother."

"Is that a good thing?"

"I'm not sure.  Ben was a Muggle.  He had a pony tail, wore leather, and drove a motorcycle with flames painted on it.  He used to threaten me with his switchblade if I misbehaved."

"Your parents didn't do anything about that?"

"They never knew," her voice turned cold.  "They disowned me before I came to Hogwarts.  Ben was made my legal guardian until I turned eighteen.  I stayed with him during the summers.  We had the time of our lives together."

"What day is it?" he asked suddenly, changing the subject since family seemed to be rather sensitive.

"Monday, after dinner, I'd tell you the exact time, but I don't have my watch with me."

"You don't have to do this."

"You mean the massage?"

"I mean everything."

"I know.  I could completely ignore you, let you suffer and become a drooling invalid that communicates through grunts and gestures."

"And yet you don't."

"No, I do not," her fingers still moved down his back in tight circles.  "I'm not a Slytherin; I'm a Gryffindor.  We lions don't leave people hanging."

Snape shifted his weight from where he was seated.  He felt something in his pocket that almost certainly hadn't been there before.  He reached his hand in and pulled out a note wrapped around a hard lump.  He opened it, realizing he couldn't make out the letters.  The talisman fell into his hand.  Snape felt the tell tale tug of being dragged by a hook in his stomach.  He landed with a hard thump on a soft carpet, still not being able to see his surroundings.

"What the hell?"

"Andy, listen to me."

Andy looked at the man.  She knew it had to be important if he had used her first name.  "I'm all ears."

Snape took a deep breath.  "I know where we are, but you are going to have to guide me.  Lord Voldemort shudder placed a port key in my pocket to bring you back to him.  I didn't know what it was until I touched it."

She placed her arms around him, seeing the terror lurking in his eyes.  "I trust you."  Snape didn't relax, but felt oddly comforted by the gesture.

"There should be a pair of large wooden doors carved with serpents and skulls with inset emeralds.  Are we any where near it?"

"If it was any closer, it could have bit us."

"Good.  I want you to knock at the doors."

"Why?"

"He already knows that we are here.  There is no place to run and no way to get out.  We can only go forward."

"That was almost poetic."  Three hollow knocks were heard.

"Wait for them to open, then enter," he paused.  "I need your support."  Andy helped him off the floor, offering her shoulders as his strength.

"Now boarding flight 666, one way, non-stop to your own personal living hell," Andy muttered to herself.  She stepped through, feeling Snape leaning heavily on her.  "You can make it, Sev."  They approached the Dark Throne.

"Miss McGee, we meet again."

"I could tell you to go kill yourself and rot in hell, but that's already happened."

"Silence!" Voldemort hissed.

"I have no reason to listen to you."

"I shall get straight to my point.  I want the Merlin's potion."

"I don't have it."

"At the trials, you said that you could make it."

"That was sixteen years ago with my notes, which are missing, thanks to you."

"You will make it for me!"

Andy paused, considering what had happened last time she had refused.  She shuddered.  That was not something she wanted to happen again.  "What are you offering me for it?"

"Your life.  If you do not make it, I will be forced to kill you."

She could feel Snape tense at her side.  He liked the options as much as she did.  His head hung weakly, silently hoping for something to come and ruin everything.  It didn't.

"Fine.  I will make you the Merlin's Potion."  Snape stiffened even more.  "Trust me," she whispered under her breath.  "At one other price."

"Which is?"

"I keep Snape."

"He is useless.  What good came he do you?"

"He is for the entertainment when I have to wait for the potion to finish simmering."

"Entertainment?"

"Personally, I was thinking about thumbscrews and using hot irons to pull out his toe nails."

"You may have him.  Get to work."

A guard entered the room and led them into a dark dungeon where a personal laboratory had been set up.  The door locked behind them.  Snape turned, grabbing Andy by the shoulders.  "Are you crazy?  Do you know what you are getting into?"

"I know more than you think I do."  She took a deep breath.  "Just trust me.  I know exactly what I am doing."

"That is what I am afraid of."

Andy found the list of ingredients on a deserted desk top and read it over.  "If I remember correctly, there was a special formula I used to determine the amounts."  She tapped her wand lightly on the parchment.  Numbers flew next to the ingredients, rippling like ocean waves.  They stopped.  "There.  I think that should do it."

"I am not even going to ask how you just figured out what took a group of us month with nothing found."

"Actually, I lost my temper while working on it and threw my wand at the parchment.  On the copy I had, all these numbers came up.  I tried it and it worked."

"I am having serious doubts on your mental sanity."  He placed both hands on the table for support.  The walking had taken a good amount of his nonexistent energy.

"Sit down before you kill yourself," she snapped harshly, pushing a chair behind him and guiding him into it.  "I don't care how stubborn you are, but having you dead won't help me."  He voice took a softer tone.  "Just give me a chance, Sev.  I have my own plans.  I need you to trust me on this."

"You have my trust until we get out of here."

"That is what I needed.  I am going to promise you that I will explain everything later."

He gave her a half-hearted blind glare, but his weakness saved him from doing anything worse.  "You better."

Andy looked around the room.  The ingredients were set on the table, mostly prepared.  A few things needed to be diced or peeled.  All she had to do was add the correct amount of each ingredient at the specific times.  It was actually an extremely simple potion to make.  It was just the amounts that had stumped wizards though out the ages.

Snape was still seeing blurs.  There wasn't much he could do and they could not allow for mistakes to happen from his handicap.  He wondered if she was being serious about the hot irons and thumbscrews.  The one thing that he could tell was that she hummed as she worked.  "You're humming."

"I know.  It's Tchaik four."

"Pardon?"

"Tchaikovsky's fourth symphony or at least some parts of it."

Snape decided that it could have been something worse.  After all she had done for him, he could put up with it for a little while.

"There.  Now it only needs to simmer over low heat for forty eight hours to ensure full potency," she paused.  "And I need a drop of his blood."

"That's not on the original list."

"I know," Andy walked toward the door.  "I'll be right back."

"I'm going with you.  I got you into this mess.  No one should face Lord Voldemort shudder alone."

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and remembered something.  "That's it!"  He heard her walk to the back of the room.  "Sev, I want you to dip your finger into this."

"What is it?"

"Only when consumed at full potency does the Merlin's potion give invincibility, but when applied to the skin before full potency is reached acts as a powerful healing draught that will heal all physical wounds or ailments.  And I quote from some book that I don't even remember the title of."

"Oh."  He cautiously dipped his index finger into the vial she held in front of him.  A green glow enveloped his entire body then faded away.  The blurs fuzzed back to normal images, undistorted by shades of gray.  His muscles tightened back to their normal strength.

"Did it work?"

"It did," He stood unassisted, feeling free.  "I should probably thank you."

"See?  And I thought that Slytherins didn't know how to express gratitude.  I do know what I'm doing sometimes.  Let's go.  Just try to act like you were before."  She knocked at the door.  "We need to see your master on accounts of the Merlin's Potion."

The guard opened it silently and led them back to the room.  Snape had pulled a fake limp and looked like he was leaning on Andy heavily.  Voldemort was still in his serpentine throne.  "Yes?"

"My Lord, we have come to report on the progress of the potion.  It is completely brewed and needs only to simmer for forty eight hours to gain full potency."

"There is only one remaining ingredient that is needed."

"I believe my minions had supplied you with the complete set of ingredients as listed."

"They did.  There is something else that I would like to add in attempt to make the potion specific to you."

Voldemort's eye slits seemed to light up.  "What is it that you need?"

"Only a drop of your blood."

"And this will make the Merlin's Potion so that it is specific to me?"

"It will."

"Very well.  You shall have it."

Andy passed him a small vial.  Voldemort took a knife and punctured his finger tip.  He squeezed three drops into the container.  "Will that be sufficient?"

"It shall.  We will notify you when the potion is completed."  Snape bowed his head to his master, supposedly in no shape to do a full, eloquent bow.  They were returned to the locked dungeon.

"Now we add the blood and hope to what ever gods you worship that this works."  Andy let the blood drip into the cauldron.  It hissed and bubbled for a moment before changing back to its normal green color.  "And we are done."

"The waiting begins."

{Author's Note:  Did I not warn you that this would get more interesting?  Haha!  Only I know what the hell I am doing!  Feel free to flame me, but answers won't come until chapter 25, so you will have to wait.  Then things get more twisted, and well…I have to stop writing these at odd hours of the night.  

Anna Black:  Exactly.  When I have the book, I don't need it and when I don't have it, I do need it.  Agh!  Of course, I can actually locate the other three books, but those weren't the ones I needed.  Peanut Butter rocks!  I've had the Moose Tracks before.  The flavor that I was talking about was called "Paul De Lima's Café Ole."  It's coffee ice cream with Gertrude Hawk chocolate bits in it.  It's awesome!  That's all I can say.  Our school doesn't start until September the fourth, but I get what you're saying.  I spent most of the time last year with various different songs going through my head, especially in math class.  I can sing, though.  I'm not that bad.  I'm in chorus and do the musicals and such.  My only problem is I'm a definite alto.  My lower range is fine, but anything high is out of the question.

Atheis Gainsborough:  Sorry about your computer, I understand.  Mine never likes me to begin with.  I glad to know you're still here!

Enjoy!  Peace, Love, and Chocolate, Nataly Ravenlock}


	23. I Am Invincible!

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for the characters that are parts of my own imagination, mostly including Andromeda McGee and Wyvern}

**Chapter 23**

**I Am Invincible!**

_**We are the dead- George Orwell 1984**_

Sirius rubbed his bleary eyes.  The words on the second year essays were fusing together into black blobs.  Why had he ever let Andy convince him to do this?  Curse her for being able to persuade him into doing almost anything.  She had agreed to grade the third year essays on the effects of Belladona in sleeping potions, which was a much longer assignment.  He went back to reading the almost illegible hand writing of the Hufflepuff's paper he was grading and gave up.  It was almost impossible to do.  Sirius placed his head in his hand and closed his eyes.

"You will have to learn how to do it eventually."

"I know, Remus.  Some of these kids seemed to have learned how to write from a full grown mountain troll."

"For once, I understand completely what you are saying, though it is the reason why I prefer to teach them by hands on experience."

"I do teach them hands on, but there is only so much that can be learned from that.  Some of the things on the O.W.L.S. these days are impossible to teach without notes and research.  We didn't even have to know as much!"

"You could find ways around that."

"How?"

Remus shook his head.  "Think about it.  You're talking about potions here.  I know I'm far from an expert on it, but you can do more with hands on brewing techniques than the essays or you could get Andy to do the hands on stuff, since she knows just a bit more than you do."

"Hey!  I resent that!"

"She does, though.  You went off to your Auror College and she went on to a Potions Laboratory project."

"Point taken.  Where is she by the way?"

"I don't know, probably torturing Snape some more."

"I don't know what she sees in him."  Sirius pulled out the Marauder's Map from his desk.

"How'd you get that back?  I thought Harry had it."

"I asked him to borrow it for a few days.  I want to make a copy of it, some how."

Remus gave his friend a dubious look.  "Do you remember how long it took us to make the one?"

"I know.  I wanted to try, just for old time's sake."  Sirius pointed his wand at the Map.  "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

The Marauder's Map focused to the halls of Hogwarts.  Remus peered over Sirius's shoulder finding the dot labeled 'Andromeda McGee'.  "There she is, in the infirmary."

"Probably Snape taunting again, like was said.  I think she gets great pleasure from bating him while he's incapable of hitting back.  A low blow, yes, but effective none the less.  I would have done the same thing save for the fact it would turn to physical blows no matter what state of being the bastard's in."

The two watched intently as the dots traced a path around the room.  They saw the dot with Andy's name on it seated next to the one labeled 'Severus Snape.'  And then both dots disappeared.

"What the hell?  Where'd they go?"

"I don't know.  Invisibility cloaks show up on the Map.  They must have disappeared."

"But no one can apparate out of Hogwarts!"

"I realize that, Padfoot.  That leaves the option of Port Key."

"But why?"

Remus shrugged, still intently staring at the Map.  "I don't know, but I have a feeling Dumbledore should be notified of this."

"All right, let's go.  I don't want Andy getting hurt again."

Both Remus and Sirius walked up to Dumbledore's office.  "Blood Pops."  The gargoyle leaped aside, giving way to the door with the griffin knocker.  Sirius rapped on the door.

"Come in."

The two entered the room, Sirius still clutching the Map.

"Good evening, Sirius, Remus.  What can I do for you?"

"It's about Andy.  We think she disappeared."

Dumbledore raised a bushy eye brow over his half moon glasses.  "And how did you come by this conclusion?"

"This," Sirius handed the Map to Dumbledore.  "I wanted to see where she ran off to.  We saw her in the infirmary with Snape, then all of the sudden both dots that represented them were gone."

"Are you certain that they were there before?"

"Yes, they were.  The Map can tell location of all people at Hogwarts, even if they're invisible.  Neither Andy nor Snape are currently residing at Hogwarts."

Dumbledore steepled his fingers on his desk top.  "I suggest you check the infirmary.  In fact, I shall accompany you.  I was wishing to pay a visit to Severus tonight any way.  Come."  The Head Master led them to the infirmary and into Snape's room.  Like the Map said, it was completely deserted save for the cat curled up on the chair.

"That's Andy's cat," Sirius spoke in a voice that wished the Map had been wrong.  "It follows her everywhere."

Remus with his inhumanly sharp eyes noticed a piece of paper on the floor.  He picked up and read it swiftly.  "You should hear this.  'This is your Port Key to you know where.  Please use it when the time comes.'  Interesting, isn't it?"

"You were right, Remus, it was a Port Key."

"That explains why neither of them is here now.  I suppose we shall have to wait until they return."

"What makes you think that they'll return?"

"They will come back," Dumbledore said gravely, honestly hoping he was correct.

Forty eight hours later, somewhere far, far away…

Forty eight hours, though considered by some, is never a short period of time.  In fact, given the correct circumstances, it can seem endless.  A second can turn into an eternity without warning and that eternity can last forever.

Andy paced the perimeter of the room, giving an impression that a mad scientist would have been proud of.  Her eyes were red rimmed from stress and lack of sleep, hair looked to have lost a battle with an egg beater.  She raked her hand through it, making the locks more disheveled than they already were.

"Sit down, McGee, before your dig a rut in the floor."

Andy spun around quickly, almost losing her balance.  She sat down hard on the end of a table.  "Is that better?" she snapped, temper having been lost at the beginning of the escapade.

"Much," Snape went back to writing.

"How can you stay calm in a situation like this?"

"Practice and patience."

"Damn serpent," Andy began to swing her legs restlessly.

"I cannot help what I am."

"It's ironic, that's all.  In the Chinese culture the snake symbolizes patience."

"And why is that useful?"

"It's not supposed to be useful.  It's just a random tidbit of information found in a book."

Two plates of food appeared on the table, thanks to Lord Voldemort's numerous house elves.  Snape slid his closer to his side and began to methodically devour the pot roast.  He hadn't been able to eat a full meal in days, given his prior condition.  Andy poked at hers with a fork as if she fully expected it to spring alive and devour her in one bite.

"It won't kill you."

"How do you know?"

"Because if he wanted us dead, he would have killed us before now."

"So?  It might be poisoned."

"He wouldn't kill you until after he gets the potion."

"That's encouraging.  I might have a chance of dying tonight any way," a hint of acidic sarcasm was easily detected in her tone.

"Yes, that is a possibility."

"Oh joy.  Cheers, then, to the night."  Andy raised a piece of meat impaled on the fork and stuck it in her mouth.

A few minutes later an ordinary looking egg timer went off.  Instead of minutes, it timed days.  "It's done, completed finished, et cetera and so forth."  Andy hopped off the table and carefully poured the remaining contents of the cauldron into a small glass vial. She held it up to light, checking the final color.  It was the shade of green connected to long summer days, lying in the sun on a thick, lush lawn.  "And now we see what happens."

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"So do I."

For a third and hopefully final time, they made their way into Voldemort's throne room once again led by the ever watching guard.

"You have my potion?" the Dark Lord hissed from the gloom surrounding his throne.

"We do, Master."

"Give it to me."  Andy handed the container over.  Lord Voldemort uncorked it and swallowed the entire contents.  A greenish radioactive glow encapsulated him then faded from existence.  "I am invincible!"

Had not the situation involved a psychopathic evil overlord that might kill her in the end, Andy would have found it hilarious.

"You have redeemed yourself, Severus.  For the time being, I shall no longer have to kill you."

"Thank you, Master."

Voldemort turned his serpentine head toward Andy.  "But you, Miss McGee, have caused me to suffer these last years rather painfully.  Yes, you did see my point in the end.  You shall have to pay for your disobedience.  _Electrocrucio__!"_

Andy collapsed on the carpet, blue waves of energy rippling across her body like a powerful electric current.  Voldemort watched for a moment to make certain she was truly suffering.  "_Finite Incantatem.  Now get out of my sight, both of you."  With a quick wave of his wand, Voldemort banished both Snape and Andy._

Snape felt the familiar blackness fade to dull twilight.  All around him were tress blackened with age and disease.  He knew this place well; the Forbidden Forest, about a mile outside the castle.  If he followed the right trails he would live.  If he didn't, he might be lost forever.  He started off to the east and paused.  He was forgetting something, or someone to be a matter of fact.  He glanced around the area.  On a pile of leaves lay a crumpled body.  Snape jogged over to her, bending down to see if she was still living.  She moaned softly, showing she was, though just barely.

"God damn it, McGee, we don't have time for this.  Get up!"

Andy made no response.

"Come on, we can't stay here.  It's late and there are creatures in these woods that even I can't handle."

She mumbled incoherently under her breath as something howled in the distance.

Snape gently bushed the hair away from her face.  Her skin felt cool to touch.  Sweat beaded out on her forehead.  "You can't do this to me, McGee."  He took her arms over on shoulder, hooking her legs with the opposite arm.  She felt to light for her small frame and his comfort.  "You had better not die on me."

A small voice muttered weakly in his ear.  "Go to hell, Sev."

At least he knew she wasn't too far gone if she could still insult him.  Snape began to run, glad of the strength the Merlin's Potion had lent him.  He could feel every jolt of every step he took.  Every rock was an obstacle.  He could not let her down, not after all she had done for him.  Andy bounced lightly on his back becoming more of a burden with every foot closer he came to Hogwarts.  She had started out a feather, slowly ebbing away his strength top make her seem heavier.  He broke out of the forest, breath coming in sort rasps and Hogwarts Castle in full view.  Never had something seemed so dear to him.

"McGee, I have to set you down for a moment.  I'm losing my grip."  Snape inhaled deeply and wiped the perspiration away from his eyes.  There was no hair for it to saturate.  It had all been burned off by the dragon.  "We're going to try something else.  I need you to hold on to me."  He picked her up, carefully placing her arms around his neck.  "Grab tightly."  He felt a feeble squeeze as he scooped the rest of her into his arms.  Gods, was she tiny.  Andy laid her head on his shoulder unseen tears of agony soaking his robes like a gentle rain.  Snape hurried into the castle, robes billowing out behind him.

"Who's there?  A student out of bed at this late hour?" the bitter voice of Argus Filch echoed in the empty hall.

"It's Severus.  I need to get to the infirmary now."

Filch held up his lantern, eying warily the sobbing bundle in Snape's arms.  "Go on, man."

He took the stairs to the infirmary two at a time, an easy task with his long legs.  The door was thrown open with a solid kick.  Andy was swiftly laid on the bed he had inhabited a few days earlier.  Madame Pomfrey was no where in sight.  She must have gone to sleep, judging by the lack of motion in the hospital wing.  Obviously no students were in grave medical conditions at the moment.

Snape glanced down at Andy as another flash of blue light shook her fragile body.  He wished he could do something to help her.  All he could think of was an all purpose healing potion.  There was some in one of his laboratories if no one had moved it.  He hoped they hadn't.  Snape rushed down to the dungeons, a specter in the gloomy darkness.  He reached the door to the lab, remembering when McGee had first come down here.  The potion he had told her to create was the all purpose healing potion he was looking for.  A few vials of it lay on the shelf nearby.  He scooped them up, racing back to where his injured charge slept.  How ironic it was that the first potion he had her make was the one that might save her life.

Andy hadn't changed much by the time he reentered the infirmary room.  She was shivering, shaking with sobs of pain.  What ever Voldemort had done to her, he had done it to cause extreme agony.  Snape placed a thick blanket over her.  He sat next to her on the bed, gently supporting her upper body in his arms.  "This should help."  He poured the contents of one vial down her throat.  She coughed lightly, not up to swallowing much after the curse.  She snuggled her head into his shoulder, tears still flowing from her eyes.  He pulled her into him.  All he could do was comfort her.  There was nothing else to be done.  It was all he could do to wait with her until it was over.

{Author's Note:  Oh, my!  I have got to stop writing these things around midnight or later.  The beginning part of this was inspired by one of my faithful readers, Anna Black, who suggested it in an e-mail.  Go and read her stuff.  She has some great Harry Potter stories.  The "I resent that!" comment I could not resist in putting it in.  It comes from a friend of mine.  Some of you know who it is (Jess, Jackie, Patti).  For the others, don't worry about it.  I did say things would get much more interesting and they have.  The _electrocrucio curse, in my imagination, is something akin to Sith Lightening (i.e. the stuff the Emperor used on Luke and Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi.)  I have a slight Star Wars obsession, so be warned.  _

WeasleyTwinsLover1112:  I'm not exactly sure what this is.  It was originally Andy/ Sirius, but, well, I can't exactly explain it without ruining half the plot line.  But Snape has his moment, I will assure you that.

Hope you enjoyed it!  Peace, Love, and Peanut Butter Butterscotch Cookies, Nataly Ravenlock}


	24. Not Yet

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Scholastic Books and Warner Brothers.  I, therefore, own nothing save the characters that were created by my imagination.}

**Chapter 24**

**Not Yet**

_**Finding my way back to sanity again/Though what I really know what I'm gonna do when I get there/ Take a breath and hold on tight/Spin around one more time/And gracefully fall back to the arms of grace  "Breathing"  Lifehouse**_

Andy groaned as she shifted her position in the rumpled sheets.  White hot needles of pain and agony seared through every muscle and every bone in her body.  Waves of blue light crackled sporadically over her small frame.  She could feel her hand resting in someone else's, strong fingers gripping tightly.  Her first thought was that either Sirius or Remus had come early to find out what had happened to her.  She knew they at least cared for her, especially Sirius given his reaction when she had only disappeared for a few hours.  Over two days had passed since Lord Voldemort had brought them to the castle.  Sirius was going to be frantic and if he had figured it out, which he more than likely had, was ready to subject Snape to extreme amounts of painful torture.  That might or might not be a good thing, depending on her mood at the point when that occurred.

Andy sighed as another spasm rocked her body.  In her mind she cursed Voldemort, his minions, and everything he had done to destroy her life and other lives.  She felt the other hand squeeze hers as if just to tell her that he was there for her.  Andy debated again on who was there with her.  Sirius would have been talking to her, she figured knowing quite well he could talk the ears off a rock when he wanted to.  He could be quiet if something was bothering him.  That might explain the soundlessness.  Remus was naturally a more silent, brooding type of person.  He could endure long periods of time without saying a word.  It was his nature.  It was a toss up between the two.  She couldn't remember what day it was for the lack of knowing how long she had been asleep.  Knowing who taught which class when did not help when the classes changed on a daily basis.  Opening her eyes would be the only way to tell who it was and affirm her guessing.  Andy cracked her eyelids, breaking the grainy seal of sleep.  She waited for the room to stop spinning and her eyes to regain focus.  With a triumphant effort, her head turned to face the man in the chair beside her.

"Hey, Sev."  She rasped, voice like rough sandpaper coated in suffering.  She hadn't expected Snape to be there.  It had come as a complete surprise.  There was no blame to hold against him.  It hadn't been his fault that Voldemort had wanted her to brew his invincibility potion.  "What the hell happened to me?"

Snape peered up from the book he had been studying.  "You were hit by a rather powerful curse most likely created by the Dark Lord himself."

"That might explain why I feel like I was run over by a four-masted English sailing ship during a monsoon."

"Is that possible?"

"I think it is.  Which curse was it?"

"I'm not sure."

"I thought you knew more about the Dark Arts than any one else here."

"I do," he admitted softly.  "But there are darker wizards than I am."

"Thank, Sev.  I owe you again."

"The debt was canceled when you completely healed me.  I felt it disintegrate.  You would have survived without me."

"No, I wouldn't have.  You kept me sane.  As much as I despise you, you did allow me to keep the remaining shards of my sanity."

"I almost left you in the forest."

Another crackling of blue light slashed down her body.  "Maybe you should have left me there.  Being eaten alive by a pack of carnivorous rabbits might have been more pleasant than having to deal with this."

Snape gave her an odd look, attempting to picture the concept of carnivorous rabbits and finally decided the pain was causing her to hallucinate.  "I would not have let you die."

"How sweet of you."

"You have yet to explain your motives to me."

"You are keeping me alive just to get answers.  Typical Slytherin approach to life."  Andy yawned, letting her eyes slid shut.  She squeezed her hand in gratitude that he was there. 

Snape studied her small hand, tiny in his own.  He could see its fine bone structure, slender fingers gripping with quiet strength.  Physically, she was stronger than most people with her build.  It had surprised him at first.  She had never seemed the type of person to be able to defend herself.  She seemed too intelligent, too gentle, and too silent even.  But it was always the quiet ones that got you.  He had never expected her to be that way, yet many times she had been the cause of his infirmary visits.  Pit bull had been rather appropriate.

Andy drew back her hand, pulling it into herself as she curled into a fetal ball.  He eyes flashed open for a moment and she gave him a genuine smile.  "Thanks, Sev." She slid into the deep sleep of the sick and weary.

The door to the room crashed open, revealing a rather panicked Sirius Black.  Sirius's expression changed to distaste as he noticed Snape's occupancy of the room.  "You bastard!  Get your large, obnoxious nose out of here, Snape!"

Snape closed the book he had been reading and lifted his head to look at the other man.  "What gives you the authority to tell me what to do?"

"I told you to get out of here.  Leave Andy alone.  You know she hates you."

"You are wrong, Black, quite wrong indeed," Severus stood up, glaring at Sirius eye to eye.  "McGee does not hold me in the highest regards, but she does not completely hate me."

"You lie."

"And I suppose a brainless git like yourself can read minds?  I'm afraid I didn't see that listed in the skills to learn in Azkaban."

Sirius boiled in fury.  He knew that Snape was purposely bating him just to get him mad.  It was all a game to Snape, a game he played quite well.  "Just get out."

"What do you plan to do if I don't?"

"I will personally break every bone in your body."

"You have threatened to do that to me numerous times already and it has yet to happen.  Empty treats are rather highly ineffective."

"Then I will start by breaking your insufferably large head."

Snape sneered.  "I would like to see you try."

Sirius leapt forward, fist out stretched and ready to pummel the Slytherin into the cold stone below.  Snape pushed it out of the way as if it were a bothersome insect.  He grabbed onto the wrist of the second punch thrown, forcing Sirius to the ground in a wrist lock.  Snape placed a large black boot on his enemy's shoulder, laughing softly.  "Just remember, Black, you attempted to hit me first."

"Let him go, Severus," Dumbledore's voice came from the entrance way.

Snape released his hold.  Black stood up, massaging the shoulder where the Slytherin had stepped on him, and glowered murderously.

"I believe some explanations are in order," Dumbledore had moved to stand just inside the room.

"He wouldn't leave," Sirius spat venomously.

"That was not the explanations I was looking for.  The two of you can resolve this at a later date."  He turned toward Snape.  "Right now, I would like to know where you were for the last two days."

Snape sat back down in his original chair near Andy's bedside.  "It started at the trials actually.  My Master summoned me to bring him Andromeda McGee.  I believe he placed a Port Key in my pocket that could only be activated when McGee was in contact with me."

Sirius looked to be sick at the thought of his girl friend in direct contact with the slimy git of a Slytherin.

"No, Black, I did nothing to her.  What ever your twisted mind was thinking, no, we did nothing."  Snape continued, "The Port Key brought us to one of my Master's many fortresses.  He ordered McGee to make the Merlin's Potion for him."  There was a falter in his monotone speech as he did not know how to explain the rest of the consequences.

"She did not make it?"

"That was surprised me the most.  She agreed to brew the potion."

"Andy did what?" Sirius yelped.

"Are you deaf as well as stupid, Black?  You heard me correctly.  Your girl friend brewed the Merlin's Potion.  She used to heal me first, then waited for it to gain full potency.  We watched Lord Voldemort shudder drink it.  He let me go, cursed her, and sent us back into the Forbidden Forest."

Dumbledore appeared rather worried.  "I don't suppose she explained any reason for doing this?"

Snape shook his head.  "No, I'm afraid she did not.  She only promised to explain everything at a later date."

"Then we can only hope that she knows exactly what she is doing.  Severus, please inform me if her condition changes.  Good day to both of you."  The Head Master swept out of the room.

Sirius, shell-shocked from what he had just heard, regained his voice.  "Andy would never do such a thing!  She completely hated him!  She wouldn't do, not after what he did to her!"

"She brewed it.  I watched the entire process."  The Slytherin smirked.  "Obviously, your little do-gooder is not as wonderful as you think she is."

"Sod off, Snape."

"You can't make yourself admit it, can you, Black?  Your precious McGee may have an evil streak."

"You conned her into it, didn't you?  It was your entire fault!"

"Yet again you are quick to cast the blame upon me.  The decision was entirely of her own.  I had no say in the matter."  Not that he could have persuaded her otherwise given his state of being at the time and the fact he was still supposedly loyal to the Dark Lord.

Sirius gave a derisive snort.  "I have no reason to believe you."

"Then don't believe me.  It is your choice, but I do not lie."

The bell rang for the changing of classes.  Sirius shot a final glare at his nemesis and left.  He couldn't believe that Andy would have done such a thing.  It did not make any sense that she would have willingly supported the Dark Lord, much less grant him powers to be invincible.  What did he have to offer her?  He knew she was still bitter about being locked away because of her earlier refusal.  If she hated him so, why had she gone and done it?  The question remained in his mind through out all of his classes and into the night.  He could find no logical reasoning to what she had done.  There was nothing to prove that anything was possible.

{Author's Note:  Yes, dear readers, the questions asked by Sirius shall be answered in the next chapter.  I just wanted to let you know that this was typed after my grandparent's fiftieth wedding anniversary and also after my four cousins and I linked arms and went skipping down the yellow brick road in Chittenango, NY.  Chittenango, NY is the birthplace of L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard Of Oz.  Two of my cousins happen to live there, so we went and skipped down the yellow brick road.  Then we got ice cream at a place called "Oz Cream."  Amusing life we hold, isn't it?  And the carnivorous rabbits are a slight Monty Python reference.  "RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!" Oh, well.  Enough of that.  School has started and I have an over loaded schedule, so postings will definitely be less frequent.  Marching band season has also begun, so we have competitions every Saturday.  My life is way too busy for my own good!

Anna Black:  I have problems spelling.  I was also in a hurry to post the chapter.  It was the night before school started, so I was a bit rushed.  Sev will have many moments, but that's his problem.  I finally typed chapter 31 with the Quidditch match, though it might be changed.  I have to send it to my beta yet.  It's over 3000 words long.  I think how it is, is that something reappeared.  She didn't have her name on the Map in the first place.  It was the guys' project.  But yes, she slowly reappeared in the pictures, documents, and such.  I couldn't resist the "I am invincible!" line.

Hope you enjoyed that chapter and please read and review.  Peace, Love, and Ice Cream, Nataly Ravenlock}


	25. The Answer

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Warner brothers and Scholastic books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for the characters of Andromeda McGee, Wyvern, and a few others that are simply figments of my imagination.}

**Chapter 25**

**The Answer**

_** "The Answer to the Great Question…"  "Yes…!"  "Of Life, the Universe, and Everything…" said Deep Thought.  "Yes…!"  "Is…" said Deep Thought, and paused._

_"Yes…!"  "Is…"  "Yes…!!!...?"  "Forty-two," said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams**_

Andy awoke feeling better than she had been for the past few days.  The pain had faded to a dull ache and no more waves of blue light crackled around her.  That in itself was a major improvement.  She glanced over to where Snape sat, sleeping in the chair by her bed.  The intensity that he carried with him dissolved into an almost child-like vulnerability.  He looked innocent for the moment and that amazed her.  'Innocent' and 'vulnerable' were two words no one in their right mind would use to describe Severus Snape.  She pushed herself sitting, glancing briefly around the room.  It had occurred to her that she was in the infirmary, but the thought had never fully clicked in her mind.  Along with causing the deep agonizing pain, Voldemort's curse must have given way to hallucinations as well.  Kicking back the thick, fluffy comforters, Andy hauled herself out of bed, her mind registering that she was clad in leopard print polar fleece pajamas.  She supposed it could have something worse, like pink, or floral print, or even something that could only be described as 'kinky.'  Fortunately, they were not.  She tiptoed to the door.

"Tell me you are not planning to go out like that, McGee."

Andy's head whipped around; face a mask of surprise.  "Why not?  They're comfy."

Snape closed his eyes for a moment and sighed.  "Why do you always have to be so difficult?" Andy opened her mouth to reply.  "Don't bothering answering that.  Remember that you are a professor.  Professors do not wander through the halls in leopard print pajamas without shoes."

She shrugged, contemplating what he said.  "Fine, have it your way."  A pile of clothes was sitting on an empty end table.  Thanks to the house elves, they were clean.  Snape politely averted his eyes for the moment.  "I found a pair of shoes.  Does that make you happy now?"

"No.  Not many things give me joy and shoes are definitely not on that list."  He did notice that she had yet to give up the sandals he had given her, though it was November.

"I always thought you were a shoe person, Sev.  You know, the lime stiletto heels, platform boots, something cheery red, maybe…" she trailed off after noticing the look Snape was giving her.  "Okay, maybe not."

"Since you have obviously recovered, Dumbledore wishes to speak with you."

"And I suppose you want explanations as well?"

"That is among the knowledge I wish to acquire."

"Then lay on, MacDuff."

"Pardon?"

"Shakespeare.  Macbeth says it to MacDuff before they duel and Macbeth gets his head chopped off."

"What does that have to do with seeing Dumbledore?"

"It was how they started the battle."

"Sometimes, McGee, sometimes," Snape stood up.  "Let's go before you start something else."  He propelled her gently out the door and up to the Head Master's office.

"Feeling better, Andromeda?"

Andy took a seat in one of the comfy chairs in front of the desk, Snape doing likewise.  "Yes, sir, I am."

"I shall get straight to the point.  I believe some explanations are in order."

"They probably are," she paused to collect her thoughts.  "I'll start at the beginning, I guess.  The Merlin's Potion was a side project of mine when I was assigned to the Ministry's Experimental Department.  I did a large amount of research on it in my spare time.  Some of the things I found were completely useless, others were highly important.  It was in one of the more obscure tomes that I found a reference to using the Merlin's Potion as an all purpose healing substance."

"Which you used on Severus?"

"Right.  So in one of the books, I found an exact copy of the original manuscript.  Around the borders of it was a unique design.  I copied it down from a hunch and took it to a linguist friend of mine.  It turned out to be notes in the Bannic alphabet.  I translated them and they gave me the idea to add Voldemort's blood to the potion."

"What was the purpose of adding the blood?"

"That's where I'm headed toward, sir.  You see, it translated into a way to neutralize the potion.  It stated something about by adding the blood of the person that was going to consume the potion, the active ingredients would be rendered useless for the user, though in appearance the potion would be the same."

"So by adding his blood, the potion did not make him invincible," Snape's logic fused everything together. "Why did you hide it from me?"

"Eventually, he is going to realize that he is not invincible and you are likely going to get tortured by him because you assisted me, but if you did not know at the time what I was doing, then you can defend yourself by that."

Snape stared at her.  "You would have made a brilliant Slytherin with that kind of logic."

"Wonderfully done, Andromeda.  I do believe you have saved us all a great bit of worrying."

"Thank you sir.  Is there anything else that you wanted to know?"

"That should be all for now, though Misters Black and Lupin were extremely worried about you."

"I suppose I shall have to explain everything to them, too.  Thanks, sir, for hearing me out." Andy stood up, leaving the room.

"Severus, a moment of your time, please."

Andy wandered down to the Potions Dungeons, where she knew she would find Sirius, if not both of them.  She briefly noted that she was correct as she opened the door to the classroom.

"Hullo, Andy," Remus greeted her, glancing up from the pile of papers that he had been working on.

Sirius's head snapped up, eyes ablaze with fury and anger.  Andy doubted that this could be a good thing.  He approached her slowly, deliberately until he was only a few feet away.  "Always thought you were perfect, didn't you?  Never could do anything wrong, could you?  You know, I always thought you would at least show some God-damned loyalty!"

"Sirius, I…"

"I don't want to hear it!  I don't care what reasons you had or how good they were.  You are no longer welcome in here!  Get out!" Sirius snarled, hands clenched in fists of rage at his sides.

"Why?  I deserve a reason why I should leave."

"If you want a reason, that I'll give you a reason.  After all the Gryffindor support, after all that's happened to the lot of us, you turned your back on us.  You're a back-stabbing, traitorous, little bitch!  I never want to see your face again!"  He shoved her backwards out the door, slamming it violently in her face.

"This time, Sirius, I am not going to sort things out for you.  You could have at least heard her point of view," Remus spoke softly.

"I don't care what her point was!  She gave the same person who murdered James and Lily the power to be invincible!  That on its own deserves death!" Sirius still seethed.

"Then it is your problem.  You deal with it.  Honestly, there has to have been reasoning behind it."

"What reasoning can there be?  She's obviously changed sides and stabbed us all in the back.  She's a traitor and traitors deserve to die!"

Remus decided that it was pointless to argue.  He would find answers eventually, even if Sirius refused to listen.

Snape watched from a corner as the door was slammed in Andy's face and she tore off down the corridor.  What even happened in there could not have been pleasant.  He supposed he should follow her.  He knew enough of how dangerous Andy McGee could get when she got upset.  Thing would not be pretty.  He followed her to a tower that few people knew about.  Waiting a few moments to make sure that heavy objects were not being lobed across the room, he stepped inside.

Andy stood by a window, breathing heavily, fists clenched in tight knots gripping the window sill.  As he got closer, he could hear her muttering under her breath.

"Damn you, Sirius Black, why do you have to be an unfeeling, incompetent moron?"

"Because he is one."

"Go away!"

Snape stood waiting.  He knew she should not be alone during something like this.  Things might start exploding.  She paused and continued her monologue.

"You deserve to die, Black.  When I get my hands on you, you are going to pay.  No one calls me a lying traitorous bitch and gets away with it.  Oh, no, they don't."  She chuckled grimly.  "I'll break you.  I'll make you see exactly what you just did.  I'll dismember you and strangle you with your own innards.  I will blind you slowly with hot irons.  I will hang you over an open fire until you roast and I can hear your pitiful screams from far, far away."

As much as he was enjoying her furious litany of tortures, Snape decided enough was enough.  There was one way to handle this.  He grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around to face him.  "All right, McGee, as enjoyable as planning to torture and murder Sirius Black would be, I'm afraid you cannot go and do that right now.  There are other ways to solve your problem."

"Go right ahead.  I'm open to suggestions, especially if they include a French Chef knife," she said in a voice that stated she obviously wasn't.

Snape led her still seething with a new found rage, into a dark, dimly lit room.  Digging through a cabinet, he pulled out a bottle and two tumbler.  He passed a full one to Andy, who tilted her head back and downed the entire thing.  She held out her glass for a refill, downing the second one as well.  She flopped carelessly into a black leather chair nearby.

"I needed that," she sounded calmer if nothing else.

"It usually helps drown the pain," the dark voice behind her spoke in return.

"I should have known you would have your special stash of Fire Whisky.  Comes in handy, doesn't it?"

"It is saved for extremely miserable days, which it seems like you are having."

Another grim laughed echoed from her place in the chair.  "Extremely miserable, that about describes it.  Oh, how was your day?  Completely miserable, thank you very much.  And how miserable was it?  You know, the generally miserable sort when one of your best friends won't even listen to you and thinks that you are a traitorous little bitch.  Wonderful, isn't it?  I think he even included back-stabbing in the description."

Snape listened from the other leather recliner.  So that's what Black did to her to get her into a state like this.  The dense Gryffindor had believed that she was siding with Voldemort and told her so through the use of descriptive adjectives.  Andy slammed her glass on the end table, making Snape thankful for the unbreakable charms he had placed on everything.

Andy continued.  "I don't believe hi.  I just don't believe that he'd have the audacity to think I'd do something like that."  She began to pace.  "I'm going to kill the bastard."  Her voice had dropped to a low and deadly range.

"Calm down, before some one gets hurt."

"I will not calm down!  I have every right to remain hysterical!"

"He will listen to you eventually, given that the two of you are still teaching the same class."

"Listen?"  Sardonic laughter came once more.  "He won't listen to me.  He's more stubborn than a jackass.  We'll spend the next few months teaching classes singly, trading on and off and generally ignoring that the other exists until someone can convince his high and mighty-ness that for once I don't need his coddling.  I knew exactly what I was doing, for Merlin's sake!  I was not and am not an agent for Voldemort!"  There was a crescendo followed be silence.

"I believe you just summed up Black's entire existence."

"I just don't know him anymore, Sev.  Why does he always have to go and be such a fool?"  Pent-up tears welled up in her eyes, spilling down her cheeks.

"Because he is one."  Snape, for once dropping his 'cold-hearted bastard' attitude moved around to where she stood, sobbing.  He placed a tender arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.  Andy buried her head into the soft fabric of his robes, letting the tears flow.  That was how it always was: anger and hatred followed by sorrow and remorse.

"It'll be all right," he stroked her hair.  "He'll realize what he did."

"No, he won't.  he'll never listen to the facts.  He's already got everything twisted in his own mind to fit his version of the truth.  No one can talk him out of it once he get an idea."  The sobs were less hysterical.

"Face it, McGee, he's an ignorant prat.  Just let him go for a while.  Break the bond between the two of you.  Show him you can survive without him."

"And he'll realize that I can think for myself and am perfectly capable of survival.  That's brilliant Sev, perfectly brilliant."

"I am a Slytherin for a reason."

"I know you and all your bloody flawless plans."

Snape noticed she had stopped the hysteria and no more tears came to her eyes.  Yet she seemed content to stay in his arms.  "They work, don't they?"

"They always do," there was a slight pause.  "Thanks, Sev.  You always knew when I needed someone."

"I simply realized that you have no anger management and did not want the entire school in ruins before dinner."

"You remembered what happens when my temper get the best of me, didn't you?"

"It was only to prevent you from throwing and breaking things."

"You do remember, then."

"Considering you once put me in the hospital wing for a few weeks, I don't think I have a choice."

She laughed softly, head still lying on his chest.  It felt safe in his arms.

Dumbledore looked up from his scrying glass.  He had not expected Sirius to react in that manner.  He had at least expected him to have given her a chance of explaining everything.  His Potions Master's response had been the more impressive of the two.  Never before had he seen Severus Snape so taken with anyone.  Maybe things were taking a turn for the better, but only time could tell.

{Author's Note:  There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the answer and the explanations.  You can finally breathe a sigh of relief, and then you can flame me for what I did with Sirius.  Go right ahead.  I honestly don't care.  I have my own plans, whatever they may be.  Just an amusing side note in response to the quote above, which mentions 42 as the answer to life, the universe, and everything, I would like to state that my Marching Band drill number is 42.  Go figure.  

WeasleyTwinsLover1112:  Yes, that would be my family.  We do stuff like that.  Here's the next one!

Anna Black:  What makes sense?  I certainly don't.  That's quite alright.  You aren't the only one who lost a game.  We got third out of three bands at our home show for Marching Band.  We lost by about .4 of a point.  Chapter 31 is long.  It is 3,482 words, which for me is very long.

CatalinaRose:  I am glad you are intrigued.  It only gets better.

Iggie:  That's encouraging.  I only write these things to combat school depression, so I understand.

Hope you enjoyed it and please review!  Peace, Love, and Blunt Objects, Nataly Ravenlock}


	26. There Are Always Reasons

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for Andromeda McGee and Wyvern, who are figments of my own imagination.}

**Chapter 26**

**There Are Always Reasons**

_**When this old world starts getting me down/ And people are just too much for me to face/ I climb way up to the top of the stairs/ And all my cares just drift right into space "On The Roof" Carole King**_

"Andy, wait!"

"Go away, Remus," she didn't even bother to turn around.  "Or do you plan on verbally slamming me into walls as well?"

"I only want to know what really happened."

"Oh, so you're going to listen to me?  Impressive.  I'm glad someone decided I'm not, how did he put it, a lying, traitorous, little bitch."

"Andy," he pleaded.  "I know you had to have a good reason."

She spun around slowly to face him.  "You're right.  I had a perfectly reasonable reason, if any one chose to listen to it.  It was the fact of an imperfect potion."

"Imperfect?"

"Yes, imperfect.  I fixed the potion so it would be immune to our dear friend, the Dark Lord."

"It didn't work?"

"Correct."

"He's not invincible?"

"Never was and never shall be on my account."

Remus cracked a small grin.  "I should have known you'd think of something like that."

She sighed, hands on her hips.  "I really don't blame you for doubting me, especially after all that happened to the lot of us.  Sirius, on the other hand…"

"He could have shown some restraint."

"Some?  Much more than he did!"

"I can't apologize for him, Andy, not this time.  He'll have to fix things by himself."

"I know.  At least you listened to me.  And you didn't insult me.  That counts for something."

"You do realize that you have to work with Sirius in the same room?"

"Oh, gods, yes!  I swear that someone is going to die before the end of the year and it's not going to be one of the students."

"Try not to hurt him."

"Hurt him!  Ha!  You crack me up sometimes, Remus.  I would never do something like that."  Sarcasm dripped from her voice.

"I mean it, Andy.  You and I both know how stubborn he can be and it'll take a while for him to admit he was wrong."

"He won't admit it.  He'll keep being an obstinate git for a few months until someone can get it through his thick skull that I was right all along and he made a complete and utter fool of himself."

"Andy, pause just try.  Please.  For my sake at least."

The grim, bitter laughter had yet to leave.  "I'll try, but I can't promise anything."

Remus nodded slowly.  "That's all I wanted to hear, that you will try."

"Well, you heard it loud and clear and now I have to go face him.  So if you hear any blood curdling screams, you know where they're coming from.  See you later."

She walked down the hall, head held high, tense with the thoughts of what might happen.  The door was slightly ajar, allowing her entry to the classroom.  She glanced around, noticing Sirius at his desk correcting papers.  He didn't even bother to acknowledge her presence.  Her desktop was empty, save for a single piece of parchment.  Andy scanned it over, shaking her head.  There was no name that it was addressed to, only writing.

_"This class is yours to instruct.  We will no longer be co-teaching and will be switching as to what classes we will teach.  You will responsible for the entire sixth and seventh year students, as well as the list I have compiled for you at the end of this letter.  The remaining classes are mine to teach.  I feel that this is the best for both of us.  I no longer hold you in a high regard after what you have done.  We cannot function as a team without trust.  I cannot trust you any longer.  I will not apologize for what I have done."  It was signed illegibly with Sirius's signature._

Andy stared at the paper in her hands and shifted her gaze towards Black.  His dark eyes shone like tempered steel at her, pain and agony, hurt from what he thought she did.  He turned his head away, severing the connection between them.  Andy let her eyes close and took a deep breath.  Eventually, he would understand.  Until them, she would just have to be patient.

The seventh years filed into the room, aware of the palpable tension.  The lesson continued uneasily, with Andy snapping at a large amount of incompetent individuals and taking a record number of points from the Hufflepuffs.  The Ravenclaw half had enough brains to make sure everything was perfect or at least close to it and only lost a minute handful.  Yet they all survived and left the room in one piece.

Andy slammed the lesson book on the desk and stomped over to where Sirius passively sat.  Her fingers closed tightly around his lapels, yanking him over the desk until their faces where only inches apart.  "You don't get it, do you?"

"No, McGee, I obviously don't."  He sounded miffed.  "Though I would like to know what I don't get."

"I would never in my life do something like that and you damn well know it!"

"I have no reason to believe you."

"You have plenty of reasons!"

"The reasons not to believe you are much more convincing."

"Are they now?"  Andy's eyes blazed with an almost subhuman fury.

"Peter turned when we least expected him to do it.  Why couldn't you have gone and done the same exact thing?"

"Peter was too easy to manipulate."

"Azkaban can do strange things to a person.  It can change them, twist their minds to be what they are not."

"My morals held through.  Remember who put me there in the first place."

"I know perfectly well who."

"So why would I side with him after he erased my entire existence and locked me a cell for Merlin knows how many years?"

Sirius shrugged under her grasp.  "I don't know.  Twisted motives, an odd sense of revenge, power plays, bribes, anything could have turned you."

"Sirius, it's not what you think…"

He cut her off.  "I know exactly what it is, no matter what you think!  I will not listen to you!"  He forced her hands away, standing up to tower over her.

Andy's palm connected with the side of his face with a loud crack.  "You fucking bastard!"

"You betrayed us all, Andromeda McGee, every one of us."  He calmly walked away.  Andy's eyes grew wide as the door slammed shut.  She let out a pent up scream.  The thick dungeon walls kept most from hearing it, though a few Gryffindor first years jumped as they passed near the dungeons.  The class went by in a blur as that most of the students were now completely terrified of their professor.  Andy was in rare form, able to go from screaming at an insolent Slytherin to calmly explaining why what they were trying to accomplish was highly important.

Andy was alone once more.  She sat on the corner of her desk, hands folded loosely in her lap.  Why did Sirius have to go and ruin her life?  Did he not understand the bond between them and what breaking it would do to them?  She depended on him.  He had brought her back into existence.  He had been there for her when she needed someone.  Just as easily, he had shunned away without a real explanation.  She supposed she knew why.  Sirius Black had been an Auror before he was arrested.  He hated Voldemort with a passion, more so after James and Lily had been murdered because of Peter's betrayal.  Now Sirius believed she had done the same thing: betrayed them all to the Dark Lord, even though she hadn't.

The door creaked open.  Andy could hear footsteps and guessed the Sirius had returned to claim the papers he had left on his desk.  She kept her eyes down.  After what had been said only a few moments before, she was not ready for another confrontation.  The footsteps stopped nearby pausing.  A hand touched her shoulder.

New rage boiled up in her as she swung her fist out to hit him.  She could feel it connect with his midsection.  Andy pushed herself off the desk, battering him thoroughly with her fists, tears clouding her vision.  "Why won't you go away?  Haven't you tormented me long enough today?  Do you have no empathy to what you've god damn done to me?"  Arms and legs lashed out furiously, connecting with every part of the body they.

Strong fingers grabbed her wrists and with a swift motion pinned them behind her back.  She twisted and turned, struggling to get out.  "Let go of me, you bastard!"  She kicked back, but hit nothing.  "I don't care about what you've done!  Get your paws off me!"

"Temper, temper, McGee."

Andy froze, going limp.  "Oh, shit."  Her head fell to her chest.  "I didn't mean that.  I thought you were someone else."

"I would hope so."

"I'm so sorry, Sev.  It was just him and what he said…I don't know!  He wouldn't listen to me!  I tried, I really did.  He just…" She trailed off from a lack of how to explain everything.  Snape simply let her go.  Andy turned to face him.  "I really am sorry."

He grabbed her by the collar of her robe.  "Listen to me, McGee, and listen well.  You have got to learn to control your temper.  If I had been someone else, you could have been out of here in an instant.  Be glad it was me and be glad I know you well enough to realize that what you did was not on purpose."  He released his grasp, letting her stumble backwards.

"So no harm done?"

"Other than a rather large amount of bruises, no.  Next time you want to take your anger out on something, try to do it on an inanimate object."

"I will," Andy sounded contrite.

"I did not come here just to be used as your punching bag.  I need to know where you put my stash of ingredients."

"They're locked in your office, with the rest of your stuff.  We figured you might want them eventually."

Snape opened the door to his office.  Everything was exactly how he had left it, save for a handful of boxes haphazardly stacked in one corner.  He glanced at the contents, confirming that they were what he wanted and picked it up.  "Take the other one, McGee.  They're being relocated my lab."

Andy grabbed the remaining box, following like a shadow behind him.  It was set on a shelf in the back of his laboratory.  Snape started to reorganize the contents, placing them on cluttered shelves and desk tops.  Andy watched from her corner, chewing lightly on her bottom lip.  Her eyes followed the Slytherin as he moved around the room.  He turned, noticing that she watched him.  "What do you want, McGee?"

"I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to do it!  It wasn't supposed to happen!  It really wasn't!  I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Snape laughed softly, taking her by the shoulders.  "Is that what you're worrying about, that you hurt me?"

She nodded solemnly.

"Don't be a stupid git.  I have survived many worse beatings than having you attack me.  I'm used to it by now.  Pain can be ignored, bruises heal, wounds can be mended.  It's all right."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I am certain."

"All right.  So you accept my apology?"

"Yes, McGee, though I don't see your need.  You've hit me many times before without apologizing."

"Thanks, Sev."  She gave him a quick hug and rushed out of the room.

Snape watched her leave and closed the door with a flick of his wand.  Why she had spontaneously hugged him was beyond his thoughts.  Andy McGee was like a whirlwind; she could from anger to contrite to just plain friendly in a matter of minutes.  She had never learned to pull her punches and obviously wasn't ready to learn to do so.  She had hit him hard a few times, but no major harm was done.  He had almost forgotten how easy it was to provoke her into a fight.  She was a pit bull no matter what anyone else thought.

{Author's Note:  Originally this chapter involved Snape in leather, but that just didn't work.  That part was written during a two week performing arts camp, in which I took an acting class for seven hours a day.  The teacher decided to concentrate on Shakespeare, so the leather section of the chapter that I omitted was a result of that.  Shakespeare twists the mind.  I did finish 32 though, right now, even after all sorts if essays and such and Marching Band.  Slowly, I will finish this!

VMorticia:  I keep my own update list, so yes, you will getting them when I choose to update.  I want to get flamed, don't ask.  I was hoping some one would flame for that chapter, but no one did.  Damn.  Glad you are enjoying it.

Ignominia (aka Iggie): Well, school sucks.  The best class is AP physics, in which there is a total of 5 students and the teacher has a great since of humor.  Here's the next part and no, this isn't very little is it?

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!  Peace, Love, and Life Savers, Nataly Ravenlock}


	27. What Happens, Happens

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for the characters of Andromeda McGee and Wyvern, who are figments of my own imagination.}

**Chapter 27**

**What Happens, Happens**

_**Trying to hold on / but didn't even know/Wasted it all just to/ Watch you go/ I kept everything inside and even though I tried / it all fell apart/ What it meant to me / will eventually / be a memory / of a time when I tried so hard "In the End" Linkin Park**  
  
****_

Sirius didn't understand it.  Why she had gone and helped to make the Dark Lord invincible was beyond him.  She had no reasons to do so.  In fact, she had a large grudge against him in the first place, especially after what he did to her.  There was no logical explanation to it, none at all.  Then again, women in general were not the most logical creatures, Andy being no exception to the rule.  He could still not see a reason for it.  Unless she didn't do it…

No, that couldn't be it.  Snape said she made the potion.  However dastardly the Slytherin may be, he would not lie to the Head Master, especially about something as crucial as that.  Andy did make the potion and she knew exactly how to make the potion; that was what worried him the most.  She had made the Merlin's Potion before.  She could give anyone the ability to be unbeatable.  Voldemort had taken the potion.  It worked how it was supposed, though it was hard to tell since he was close to invincible to begin with.

She could have been under the Imperious Curse.  That might explain it, but Andy would fight that.  She had many times before.  It would have been a struggle to keep her controlled.  Her will was too strong to be dominated.  People had tried before and failed miserably.  It was a scary thing.  She was a fighter heart and soul and would keep going until she had no means left to carry on the battle.  She would rather kill herself trying to win, than let herself give into.  Andy was not the kind of person to fall easily for something like that.

Sirius leaned back in the cushy, over-stuffed chair, twining his fingers behind his head.  Neither of those would be easy answers to explain it.  If not them, then what would have turned her?  She could have been bribed…But what would have given her initiative to change sides?  Andy never wanted money.  She had lived with her brother on a very limited income and survived.  She even told him once that she never wanted more.  Power might have, but she wouldn't go for being the right hand of an evil overlord.  She had more moral values than that.  There was too much owed to the light side to turn her away from it.  Riches were out of the question.  She was enough of a tom-boy to not care for the frivolous jewels, large houses, gigantic swimming pools, or fancy cars of a pampered life.  Andy was too independent and self sufficient to want any of that.  She would have preferred a nice little cabin by a lake in the mountains with a hammock and a fully equipped laboratory in the basement.  She wouldn't have taken that as a bribe, or at least he didn't think so.  Who in their right mind would bribe someone with a small rustic log cabin?  Wouldn't they just give them the entire lake or the city that the lake belonged to or even the country that the city was located in?

Voldemort could have threatened to kill someone if she didn't agree to brew the potion, he supposed to himself.  He could have threatened to kill a quite few people.  Who was the main question.  Who did Voldemort know that Andy was close to?  There was only handful of people he could think of: Dumbledore, Remus, and himself.  They were the only people to have major contact with her since she regained her identity.  Dumbledore would be too hard to kill, so she wouldn't have fallen for that.  Both himself and Remus were at Hogwarts and therefore protected by Dumbledore and the charms that kept Hogwarts safe.  Andy was too smart to be bribed by that.  She knew they could fend for themselves.

He could have threatened to take her life if she didn't brew the potion.  That would make the most sense.  She had been tortured by being sentenced to Azkaban for sixteen years.  Her existence had been erased before and that was just for refusing once.  If she refused him again, she might have been brutally massacred, tortured, and never seen on the face of the earth again.  Yes, that would make the most sense of anything.  It had to be the only answer.  Voldemort had threatened to kill her if she didn't brew his potion.  Andy had agreed since she had just regained her life and did not want to leave what she had regained.

It still didn't make perfect sense.  Sirius could not see her creating the Merlin's Potion just for being threatened by death.  Andy was not a meek and mild person that followed orders.  She had her own plans with life.  But she had two choices!  She either brewed it or she didn't and he knew she did.  A light bulb lit in his mind.  She could have sabotaged it.  She could have found a way to make the potion so it wouldn't work but it looked like it did.  Andy would do something like that.  He knew she would.  That had to be the answer!  His mood fell, realizing what he would have to do next.  'Which means,' Sirius thought silently to himself, 'I was wrong to blame her in the first place.'

"I was wrong," he whispered softly to no one in particular.  "Oh, gods, Andy, I'm sorry.  I was a fool to doubt you.  I knew you better than that.  I knew you wouldn't have done something like that.  I found your reason, or at least I think I did.  Oh, gods, I'm so sorry."  He knew he would have to apologize to her in person eventually.  It would be difficult, for both her and him.  For all he knew, she wanted him dead.  It was a grim thought.  He hoped she would forgive him.  If she didn't, he didn't know what he would do.  She always forgave him when he made horrid mistakes.  It was her nature.  She would call him a stupid idiot and a few other words with the same meaning, but in the end she would forgive him.

A little voice of doubt spoke that she had changed.  The years in Azkaban had hardened her heart.  She spent so long without him; it didn't make a difference anymore.  Life went on, whether or not he was there.  She wouldn't care…

No!  No, she would care!  She would forgive him!  He told the little voice to shut up.  Andy didn't change.  She would never change how she was.  It was impossible.  Yes, he knew quite well she could be a complete bitch when she wanted to, but underneath was the uncertain, little girl that only wanted to be loved.  He only had to hope that the little girl had not vanished.  There was a chance it might have grown up, but that was slim.  She may be tough and self-confident on the outside, but inside everyone felt the need to be accepted.

Sirius shook his head.  He would have to talk with her.  Maybe not a face to face confrontation yet, but at least a note.  It would be easier to write her a letter than speak to her, especially after their last confrontation.  He knew it had been wrong to say those things to her, but at that moment, it had been how he felt.  Now that he had thought about it more, things were different.  He found a spare piece of parchment and began to compose a long letter apologizing for everything.

It took him a few hours to get everything perfect.  He took one last glance at everything he had written and sealed the parchment with a blot of wax inscribed with his signet.  Her named was penned on the front.  He would have to deliver it somehow.  Sirius wondered where she was now.  He opened the door to his room that connected to hers.  No one was there.  She wasn't in the class room either.  Maybe Remus would know where she was.  He might have at least a few more ideas.  Sirius knocked on the door to the defense room.

"Come in."

Sirius threw open the door, lop-sided grin on his face.  "Hey, Remus, do you know where Andy is?"

Remus gave him a strange look.  "Why?"

"I figured it out!  She didn't do it!"

"Oh, really?  And how did you come to that stunning conclusion?"

"I was thinking about it, actually.  The only thing that made any sense was that she sabotaged the potion."

"I'm impressed.  It only took you three months to figure out that she didn't do it when you have listened to her the first time and saved us all from the row between the two of you."

Sirius paused.  "You asked her?"

"I asked her the day after you completely exploded at her.  She was completely pissed at you, but I listened.  She did sabotage the potion."

"Oh.  So where is she?"

"I don't know.  I haven't seen her since breakfast.  She didn't tell me if she was going anywhere today."

"Do you have any ideas as to where she might be?"

"I'd check the library, some of the private labs in the dungeons, and maybe outside somewhere."

"Thanks, Remus."  Sirius raced out the door.

Remus chuckled to himself as his friend left.  Sirius could be as stubborn as a mule, but he was a smart mule and could figure things out.  Yes, it had taken him a few months to realize everything.  In the end, he had figured it out.  He could only hope that Andy would accept the apology.

Sirius jogged up to the library.  It was almost deserted, save for a few students working on long term projects that required a good amount of research.  Andy was no where to be seen.  He peered out the windows to the Quidditch pitch.  Ravenclaws were out practicing.  She wasn't there either.  The lake was uninhabited.  That left one last suggestion: the potions labs.  He had forgotten to check them when he looked in the classroom.  It was a good point; she had a large chance of being in one of them to experiment with potions and such.

The first two rooms were devoid of life.  The next one was slightly used, but no one graced the room with a presence.  Light spilled under the door from the fourth room.  Sirius gulped, hearing voices inside.  He knew this lab to be Snape's own.  That wasn't a good sign.  He cursed the slimy git of a Slytherin as he heard Andy's laughter from inside.  He leaned against the wall, listening to the conversation.

"McGee, that would not work," Snape's obviously darker toned voice spoke first.

"Why not?  Yarrow would obviously be the better choice than Witch Hazel.  It would stop the bleeding as well as keep the same astringent properties.  Witch Hazel only treats skin irritations."

"Yarrow would react with the bezoar.  Together they produce a rather large explosion."

"Not when combined in small amounts of the powdered form.  It only fizzes a little."

"I know that.  The Yarrow makes the Mugwort obsolete as well, so by adding it, it kills most of your potion's active ingredients."

"No, it doesn't," Sirius could hear the rustling of papers.  "See?  Take a look at this.  They used Yarrow in their potion and nothing horrible happened.  It worked just fine"

"They also changed half the ingredients."

"So? Diversity is good."

Sirius turned and walked away, letting the Potions adepts argue about what ever they were arguing about in the first place.  It was pointless to interrupt.  Snape would kill him on first glance and Andy would follow the suit as well.  Neither would be thrilled to see him.  He would have to find her alone.  It would be the only way to do it.

It had seemed simple to him at first.  All he had to do was find her, apologize about what he had done, and hope she would accept it.  Now things got more complicated.  Sirius turned the letter that he still held over and over in his hand as he walked back to his rooms.  He glanced to Andy's door, unlocked as it always was.  Getting an idea, he slipped inside and left the note on her pillow where he knew she would find it.  He went back to his own rooms to sleep, wishing with every stitch of his soul that she would forgive him for what he did to her.

{Author's Note:  That was the first chapter since chapter nine that was written completely on computer.  The rest were written long handed in my notebooks.  I honestly don't know where this chapter came from, but it was interesting doing something from Sirius's perspective.  

Anna Black:  I have no clue.  I honestly don't remember.  I think I knew at one point.  You have to understand that when this was written, I had gotten about four to six hours of sleep a night for two weeks.  I wasn't doing very well.  Those two weeks were spent at an acting camp doing Shakespeare.  So when your mind is concentrating on memorizing long lines is iambic pentameters, things get dry.  You are just going to have to wait, since I'm almost up to posting those ones and am too lazy to open the file and send them to you.

VMorticia:  I spent two weeks at an acting camp and we concentrated on Shakespeare for the entire time.  I got around four to six hours of sleep a night for two weeks straight.  The chapter involved Snape taking Andy away from Hogwarts on a motorcycle to a biker bar, wearing leather.  I stopped it there after some illicit dealings were done between Snape and another guy.  That was never finished and it made no sense at all, so as I typed it, I finished the chapter the way you have read it.  The reason Shakespeare caused me to do this is because I was not thinking straight when I wrote that part.  The reason I want to be flamed is because no one has honestly comes out and tells me that I suck majorly.  Everyone seems to like the story and that bothers me.  I think I'm just a wee bit paranoid, but that's just me.  I liked 26, it was fun just because I got to beat up Snape (Again)!

Hope you enjoyed it!  Peace, Love, and Duct (Duck) Tape, Nataly Ravenlock}


	28. Life's A Bitch

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Scholastic Books and Warner Brothers.  I, therefore, own no parts of this save for the characters of Andromeda McGee and Wyvern, who are figments of my own twisted imagination.}

{This chapter is for Jess (a.k.a. Josie) who, when I asked for ideas, sent me a short insert, which I edited and used for a part of this chapter.  Thanks!  What would I ever do without you?}

**Chapter 28**

**Life's a Bitch**

_**Chill out, what you yellin' for?/ Lay back, it's all been done before/ And if you could only let it be you will see...../ Why do you have to go and make things so complicated?/ I see the way you're acting like you're somebody else gets me frustrated./ Life's like this... "Complicated" Avril Lavigne**  
  
_

Andy stomped back to her room sometime after midnight.  Snape was being an arrogant bastard and generally assuming that he knew everything.  He had argued with everything that had come out of her mouth.  After a very heated discussion that got both of them screaming at each other, she had stormed out of the lab.

A quick glance around her room showed nothing amiss.  With a short pent up growl she slammed her fist into the nearest pillow, feeling something go 'crunch' under the solid blow.  The paper was flattened out, her name recognizable on the front.  She knew the hand writing.  In fact, she knew it very well indeed.  It belonged to one Sirius Black, who currently hated her total being.  It was addressed very formally with her entire name spelled out in spindly letters: Andromeda Josephine McGee.  It was too neat looking for her to trust it.  Andy chucked it into the flames of the fire place watching it turn to cinder ash.  She hadn't bothered to read it.  It was probably more insults, more you are dirt, scum, a low life amoeba, or what ever else he could think of to call her.  In fact, only yesterday he had told her once again that she couldn't be trusted.  This time it was on the Quidditch pitch when Madame Hooch had scheduled a practice.  That man frustrated the hell out of her.  She held the pillow tightly as the last pieces of the parchment burned red.  Not bothering to worry about it, she slept.

An incessant beeping woke her a few hours later.  Andy opened her eyes, rubbing them to remove the last bits of sleep.  She glanced over to the glowing clock.  5:37 in the morning.  It had taken her two minutes to fully realize that the clock was creating the racket and she hit it hard with her fist.  It stopped mid beep.  "Ugh," she moaned, pulled herself out of bed.  She limped over to a sink and washed her face to clear the remnants of her dozing.  A quick glance showed her room was a disaster.

'Comfort foods' were scattered over her oak coffee table.  An empty bag of Oreos leaned against a melted three-quarters finished pint of Ben and Jerry's Rocky Road Ice Cream.  A bottle of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, a bag of marshmallows, and a can of whipped cream that now contained enough of its prior contents to make one mini, and very mini at that, ice cream sundae, were in a heap near by.  A few other foods were there but they weren't important enough to take notice of at the moment.

"Why, why, why does he have to be such an ignorant ass?" Andy muttered to herself, forcefully throwing on the pair of sandals that Snape had given her.  She stopped and thought for a moment.  Come to think of it, he was being an ignorant ass as well.  Men…What was their purpose in life?  Was it just to make her miserable?  She laughed out loud, causing Wyvern to raise her head from where she had been sleeping.  "Don't worry, cat, you don't have to deal with them.  I do." She paused.  "I think I'm going crazy again, at least for the moment.  I try to trust someone and they turn their back on me.  You know what?  Life sucks!"  Andy stormed out of her room.

"_Alohomora," she mumbled to the door of the Potions classroom, still not fully awake.  It creaked open, allowing her entrance to the room.  She shuffled over to her desk.  No new messages waited for her.  'Good,' she thought to herself.  'Being told once again that I can't be trusted is not something I need this morning.  What I do need is a cup of strong coffee.'  She summoned a mug and took sip.  It was bitter and scalding hot, but it helped to clear her mind._

Third years were the first class of the day, meaning Sirius would be in at any moment, preparing for his lesson. She would have to hurry out of there if she didn't want to have another run-in with him. She hastily opened her briefcase, separating the 6th and 7th year papers, filing them in her abnormally tidy desk, for her that is. She had no sooner begun when Sirius walked in. Andy kept her head down, but her eyes were up, watching his every move. If he even blinked wrong, she would let him have it. He glanced over at her for a half a second, then slowly continued walking over to his desk, staring at the floor.

At that moment, an owl flew in, dropping the Daily Prophet in the open drawer of Andy's desk. She sighed, looking at the front headline: "VOLDEMORT'S POWER INCREASING?" She raised her eyebrows and began reading the four full-page article until she came across the line "...yours truly, Rita Skeeter...", and tossed it into her briefcase, not really intending to read it later.

Sirius cleared his throat. Andy didn't even bother to look up. He cleared it again, making it apparent he wanted to get her attention. She continued to ignore him. 'I can be a bitch if I want to be,' she thought, making it blatantly obvious that she was deliberately focusing on what she was doing and didn't want to hear whatever that incompetent bastard had to say.

"Er...Andy?" Sirius said, speaking a few decibels louder than a whisper.

Andy yawned with much exaggeration, as she finished sorting and grading papers she hadn't got to the night before. She swiftly scooped up the two piles, filed them properly and closed her briefcase.

"Look, Andy, I thought maybe we could--," Sirius began, but it wasn't effective. On that note, Andy looked at him, scoffed, and walked briskly out of the room, making sure to slam the squeaky door behind her. Sirius sighed, sat down, his head in his hands, the deafening silence of the empty classroom ringing in his ears.  She obviously hadn't wanted to talk with him.  He hoped that she had gotten the note he had written her.  Judging by her reaction, she probably hadn't read it.  With his currently luck, she had destroyed it, thinking it was more insults like he had written before.

"Damn!" he swore to himself, the curse echoing from the walls of the dungeon.  He added a few more potent curses that we won't mention since this is supposed to be PG-13.  "Why, Andy?  Why do you have to be such an obstinate bitch?"

The third years warily shuffled into the room, having seen Andy fly out in a rage.  They had learned of both professors high strung temperaments.  After seeing one of them race from the room looking like she was about to kill something or someone, they didn't know what to expect from the other.  Sirius had calmed down, in fact.  He waited patiently for his class to enter then began the lesson.  Underneath his exterior placidness, uncertainty and anger bubbled away.  The students left him alone in the room.  He waited for Andy to return, knowing that she had a class to teach next.

Andy had left boiling with fury.  How dare he try to talk with her?  After all that he did to her, did he actually expect her to listen to what he had to say?  She didn't think so.  She knew she had to return though she didn't want to.  Andy shoved open the door, noticing that Sirius was still there.  'Damn persistent bastard!' she thought to herself, throwing her battered briefcase onto her desk.

Sirius approached her cautiously, not wanting to be blown up at, yet knowing that it was likely to happen.  "Andy, we need to talk."

"Why?  Give me one good reason to listen to you?  Personally, I have none that I can think of."

He couldn't think of anything either.  "We still need to talk."

"About what?  Are you going to start calling me names again?  I don't need to be convinced that I'm low-life scum for the third time this month." She paused as he tried to speak, but cut him off.  "Look, Sirius.  You've already told me how you felt about me.  I believe you decided that I was a traitorous, little bitch.  No, don't speak.  We have nothing between us anymore.  It's as simple as that.  Got it?  No matter what you do, nothing can change.  Anything you do, I can ignore.  Don't try to write me, I'll just burn it like I did to what ever you sent me last night.  I won't listen to what you have to say.  You don't believe me any way," she paused taking no notice of the sorrow in his eyes.  "Just go away.  I have a class to teach."

Sirius turned on his heel, grabbing a pile of papers and left the room like a dead man.  Andy had made up her mind about what he had said.  She was not going to listen to him easily.  It was a pity.  If she would listen, everything would be fine.  She had always listened before.

_They had been third years.  It was the day after Christmas break when everyone returned to Hogwarts.  Andy had climbed up the stair to the Gryffindor dormitories, dragging her trunk behind her with heavy remorse.  Sirius had taken the other end, helping her carry it down the long halls and into her room._

_"Thanks," she had turned to face him, face colored with numerous bruises._

_"What the hell happened to you, Andy?"_

_"It's nothing, just a few bruises."_

_"It's something."_

_"No, it's not."_

_"Yes, it is." Sirius took her arm, feeling her wince.  He rolled up her sleeve, seeing more bruises and cut marks.  "What did he do to you?"_

_"He didn't do anything."_

_"Andy, listen to me.  You don't just suddenly have a bunch of bruises appear on you.  Something had to happen."  He led her to a couch in the Common Rooms.  "You can tell me."_

_"It's better left unsaid, Sirius.  You don't have to deal with it.  It's my problem, not yours."_

_"You're my friend.  I do have to deal with it.  Was it Ben?"_

_"No, it wasn't Ben.  He left to pick up a few things and his friends came over.  They were completely smashed on who knows what.  I could smell the liquor on their breath.  A few of them started throwing me around, hitting me.  It was horrible. Ben came back and stopped them, but he couldn't stop the damage that had been done.  I was lucky nothing was broken.  It hurt so much…"  Everything came out in a quiet whisper.  Sirius could tell she didn't want to talk about it._

_"It'll be alright," he put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.  She looked so vulnerable, bruised and battered._

_Andy looked up at him, tear streaked face smiling slightly.  "Thanks, Sirius."_

Sirius thought about that for a moment.  She had always talked to him before.  He knew more about her than any one else, Lily included.  They could talk about anything.  Another memory came back to him.

_An owl had flew right into the Common Room, dropping a letter on his lap.  Sirius took one look at it and left the room.  Andy watched him go from the corner she had been studying in.  She could tell something was wrong, just by the way he walked out on them.  She stood up, following him out.  She caught up with him half way down the hall.  No words passed between them, just simple silence._

_Sirius knew that she would follow him.  Andy had a knack for telling when people were unhappy or something was wrong.  He couldn't hide anything from her.  He had learned it to be impossible.  He collapsed on a bench in a deserted corridor, Andy sitting next to him._

_She let a moment pass before speaking.  "What happened?"_

_Sirius passed her the letter, which she scanned quickly.  "Oh, gods, that's horrible!"_

_Sirius said nothing in response.  There was nothing to say._

_"Hey, everything will be alright.  Death is only life's next great adventure."_

_"You don't what it's like to lose someone you love."_

_"Yes, I do.  I know more than anyone else around here."_

_"It's not the same.  She's dead.  I'll never see her again."_

_Andy took his hand in her own.  "She died what doing what she did best.  She died trying to save the lives of others."_

_"But she'll never come home.  She never be there again."_

_"Pisces Black was an Auror for a reason.  She used her life to fight for us.  She wouldn't have wanted to die any other way."_

_"I know.  Why couldn't they have taken someone else?  Why did it have to be my sister?"_

_"She probably understood exactly what she was doing."_

_"She was fool-hardy to do it."_

_"No, Sirius, she wasn't.  Pisces isn't one to describe as fool-hardy.  She knew all the dangers of being an Auror.  She wouldn't have been fighting for any other reason."_

_"You're right, Andy.  She did know what she was doing, but that still doesn't mean that she had to go and die for it."_

_"No, it doesn't, but she did."_

_Sirius paused, breathing more calmly than he had before.  "I'm going to avenge her death.  They'll pay for taking her life.  No one messes with the Blacks and gets away with it."_

Andy had been there for him.  She had listened; she had forced some common sense into him.  Pisces had been his older sister and a bloody good Auror.  They had been close and then the Death Eaters had killed her in an attack.  He had become an Auror to avenge her death and the deaths of others.  Andy had supported him all the way.

He couldn't take it anymore!  He needed her.  Having her ignore his existence was like loosing a part of himself.  He missed having someone to talk to that he knew would listen.  Yes, Remus was there, but it wasn't the same.  He wanted Andy back to way things were before.  Sirius bowed his head, realizing how lonely he had been the past few months.  Anger and rage had held him through, but he needed people.  He needed people that he could trust, people like Andy.  She had been one of his best friends and more than that.  He wanted her back.

{Author's Note:  Well, well, well…I told you it would take awhile to solve things.  Come on, did any of you actually expect Andy to listen to Sirius?  She just wouldn't do that!  It's not her character.  Ben is Andy's older brother, as mentioned in Chapter 11, in case you forgot.  Oh, well.  I suppose I should stop ruining people's lives, but that's no fun.  Just a warning, most of this chapter was written after having an allergy attack that made my arms swell up and break out in hives.  I spent over two hours at a hospital on Saturday trying to get everything cleared up.  I'm better now, though my hands are still slightly swollen and the hives come and go.  So if anything in this chapter is confusing, blame it on the medicines the doctor put me on.  They make me rather woozy.  That of course, was in mid August, when this chapter was written.  

VMorticia: Yeah, he could have, but he didn't and I really don't feel like going back and changing it.  That chapter was hard enough to write as it is.  I did like Remus's reaction.  This is what you get for starting with my fic.

Ignominia:  I'm glad you still enjoyed it.

WeasleyTwinsLover1112:  Of course, he's a thick headed git!  What else would he be?

Anna Black: You have waited long enough.  Here's 28.  I know the feeling.  I've done that before.  Up until two, awake at 7:30, at my friend's by 8:30, band at 12:30, or in some cases earlier.

Hope you enjoyed it!  Peace, Love, and Rice Crispy Treats, Nataly Ravenlock}


	29. Twisted Plans

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Scholastic Books and Warner Brothers.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for the characters of Andromeda McGee and Wyvern, who were created by my own imagination.}

{Yet again, this goes to Jess who wrote me another section which I was able to manipulate into something rather scary.}

**Chapter 29**

**Twisted Plans**

_** Just a day, just an ordinary day/ Just trying to get by/ Just a boy, just an ordinary boy/ But he was looking to the sky/ And as he asked if I would come along/ I started to realize/ That every day he finds just what he's looking for/ And like a shooting star he shines "Ordinary Day" Vanessa Carlton** _

Andy stalked into the Three Broomsticks, feeling extremely frustrated.  Sirius was bothering her again.  He just didn't know when to give up.  He could at least realize by now that she wanted nothing to do with him and it would be much easier to just get the hell out of her life.  But no!  He didn't!  She smacked her fist into her open palm as she took a seat into a dark corner table where she could sulk for a bit.  Ordering a rather stiff drink, she contented herself with glaring at everyone who looked her way.  If Sirius even dared to set one foot inside to try and find her, he was going to get it!  She was ready to go full out ballistic on him.  He would get exactly what he deserved.  That was what one would expect from a McGee.  Tempers always ran high in the family.  Ben had one, she had one, and her mother most definitely had a rather hasty one.  Her father was almost calm compared to the rest of them.  Oh, well.  C'est la vie.  That's life and Sirius would have to deal with it in his own way, when the time came for a confrontation.  He would pay.  Oh, yes, he would pay dearly.  "That's what you'll get for calling me a traitorous, little bitch!" she hissed quietly to herself.

"I don't believe I have ever called you those exact words.  I will admit to have called you other things, but never those exact words."

"Leave me alone."

Snape didn't listen.  He gracefully pulled up a chair next to her, saying nothing.

"I told you to leave me alone.  I want to be alone.  I need to be alone."

"Why?"

Andy turned and glowered at him, eyes narrowing dangerously.  "Because it is much easier to plot my revenge without other people annoying me."

"Yet you choose to sit in a crowded building."

"This crowded building happens to have a large supply of ideas."

"Uh-huh," Snape once again doubted her mental sanity.  "By large supply of ideas you mean this?"  He gestured briefly to the half empty martini glass by her elbow.

"No, I could make my own in the castle.  It's rather easy if you have the correct recipe and a large supply of green olives."

"I suppose you don't?"

"Actually…I just bought a jar of them with hopes of making a few last week."

"What happened to it?"

She looked rather puzzled for a moment.  "I think Wyvern got into them.  She seems to have taken a liking for olives."

"Right."

"You didn't come here just to ask about my choice of location."  It was a statement not a question.

"You're rather blunt tonight."

"So?  Answer my question.  It's perfectly legitimate."

Snape paused, figuring briefly the best way to word his thoughts.  "I have a proposal to make to you."

"Oh, really?  I had no idea you were going to propose to me!  This is all so sudden!  I don't know what to say!"  Sarcasm was dripping from her voice.

"Cut the sarcasm, McGee.  You said you were plotting revenge, against Black, I assume?"

"No, against your pair of fuzzy pink bunny slippers.  Who do you think?"

"You are spiteful.  Good to know.  I'm trying to give you an opportunity to hurt Black, just like he hurt you."

Andy perked up slightly.  "You have my full, undivided attention."

"This plan would involve the assistance of another male."

"You mean try to…"

"Make Black insanely jealous," he finished with a smirk.  "Do you have any idea how much it hurts to see someone who you're crazy about with your worst enemy?"

"Do you?"

"No, but I've heard that it is extremely devastating."

"Hey, wait a second," she interrupted.  "You said 'enemy.'  Who exactly did you have in mind?"  Andy stopped, realization dawning.  "Oh, no…you didn't mean… Severus Snape, this isn't your way of _asking me out, is it?"_

Snape looked offended at the idea.  "Don't get your hopes up, McGee.  I would never sink low enough to date a Gryffindor."

"Well, it would be *ahem* an improvement on your current relationship status."  Somehow she withheld from laughing hysterically at the entire idea.  A grain of doubt crept into her mind about whatever Snape was planning, but she brushed it away without a thought.

"I am not doing this for you!  Black almost killed me more times than I can count!"  His face darkened in the shadows of the flickering candle light.  "He will never get away with it.  He deserves only the worst."

Andy stared at him intently.  "You're serious about this, aren't you?"

He nodded.  "Yes.  It would be nothing sincere, nothing true, just enough to completely infuriate Black."

She chuckled briefly, causing Snape to give her an odd look.  'You really are, aren't you?' she thought to herself, deciding that there was more to this than the Slytherin had thought.  "Alright, you have deal."  She stuck out her hand to close the bargain with a shake.  "You get your revenge, I get my revenge, and Sirius Black is made completely miserable.  I like it.  Ingenious, if I do say so myself."

"My plans are always ingenious."

"I know.  That's what you Slytherins are good for: plotting against the rest of the world."

"That's just because the Gryffindors are too hasty and stubborn to think things out for themselves."

"I was doing quite well on my own, thank you very much!"

"Then what did you come up with?"

"Something that involved hurting Sirius rather badly."

"Obviously, but with what?"

"My bare fists, for the most part."

"See what I mean?  A Slytherin would never have come up with anything that fool-hardy."

"No, probably not, but it is rather satisfying to picture him on the ground writhing in pain while pummeling him mercilessly as he screams in agony for me to stop."

Snape raised his eyebrows at her.  "You are one sadistic pit bull."

"I know, but it's a good image."

"McGee, sometimes…"

"What?" Andy attempted to sound innocent.

"Never mind."

"No, I want to know."

"Let me add impatient and obstinate to the list of adjectives."

"I think I've been called those before, too and maybe mean and evil and odd and annoying and dangerous and probably a few others that I don't remember.  And most of them were by you and some of Ben's friends, though not at the same time."  She stared into the martini glass.  Finding no answers that the olive could bring her, she finished the drink.  "I'm going to disappear back to the castle now.  See you, Sev."  Andy stood up, leaving Snape alone at the table.

Snape watched her weave her way through the throng of people and out the door.  He had never understood her at all.  She was one of those impossible people that could change moods in 3.5 seconds.  She was hasty, more stubborn than an ox-cart mule, and as fierce as the Gryffindor lion itself.  Yet, to have his plan work, he would have to trust her.  It wouldn't be that difficult to do.  Somehow, he knew that he was one of the few people she did trust.

Andy wandered slowly back to the castle, having no reason to return.  Black was there…She gazed up at the stars.  There were so many of them.  It had always amazed her.  She grew up with the stars.  Her father had worked in conjuncture with an astronomy observatory.  It was her name sake.  He had named her after the constellation, Andromeda.  He had taught her about the stars, planets, and such.  From an early age, she had shared his fascination.  She had been her father's daughter through and through.  Astronomy had been one of her better subjects, like potions.

Potions…The thought brought her back to the present.  She sighed, wondering if she had made the right choice.  Sirius had been a bastard to her.  Between the insults and the doors slammed in her face, he deserved it!  He didn't understand how it felt to come back to a world that you barely remembered and then be shunned away by one you loved.  It hurt too much.  Yes, he did deserve it!  He had damaged her beyond all limits. What he had done was one of the worse things that he could have done to her.  She needed people.  After being alone in a cell, with no thoughts and memories, people were important to her existent.  Human contact was a need and he had turned away from her.  There were a few people left who had yet to hurt her:  Remus…and Severus Snape.

That brought her back even further.  Why had she agreed with him?  He was one of the people she had never fully comprehended.  He was an enigma in life.  He had saved her life, given her back her existence.  She had repaid the debt by healing him.  He had never been one of the friendliest people.  Calling him friendly and personable would be a down right lie.  He was barely civil to her.  They had gotten into many, many fights in the past, both verbal and physical.  Yet some how, they had put their differences aside when it came to potions.  It was the Potions Master's fault!  He had brought them together during their first year at Hogwarts and forced them to combine their efforts into bettering their potions skills.  The Potions Master had seen their talents.  He had taught them more than most students, taking them under his wing.  Both of them had excelled in the field.  They had spent many nights together in the dark dungeons, brewing and experimenting.  That was where a cultivated respect grew.  Yes, she definitely respected the man, even now.

But why had he asked her now?  She didn't get it.  Andy cursed him for being a conniving Slytherin.  What he wanted to do had almost struck her as hilarious.  The whole idea of going out with Severus Snape gave her reason to laugh.  A Gryffindor with a Slytherin, that would be the day.  He had said it wouldn't be serious.  Some how, she doubted it.  He had always struck her as a serious person.  He was so different from all the other men she had known.  Sirius had been sensitive and loving when he wanted to be.  Snape was none of those things.  He was cold at the best, insensitive to people, closed off to the world.  He kept himself hid in his own dark corner.  Once or twice, she had gotten him to open up, if only for moment.  To be honest, she found his ways intriguing.  If they were going to be together, even as a non-serious relationship, she was going to figure him out.  "Poor man," she whispered to the stars above.  "Probably doesn't realize what he's diving into.  Probably thinks that this would be easy to do, act like a couple, and make Black miserable.  That isn't all it is, is it, Sev?  I don't think so and I think you're too blind to realize it."  Andy let herself get lost in the heavens with a slight smirk on her face.

Snape sighed, leaving the Three Broomsticks in a flurry of dark robes.  There was no reason to stay there.  He walked quickly up the paths back to Hogwarts, noticing a lone figure on the path ahead simply standing there.  He knew who it was.  Obviously, McGee hadn't gotten back to the castle yet.  He really did not want to talk with her again.  Once was enough for tonight, though he had a feeling he didn't have a choice.  He paused by her side, glancing up to what ever she was looking at.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" her voice was a little more than a whisper.

Snape personally could care less about the stars.  "If you say so."

"There's so many of them.  It's hard to imagine all of them up there shining, growing, moving…It's like they're almost alive."

"Snap out of it, McGee.  They are only balls of gases and other substances reacting with each other."

"That's no fun.  You take all the imagination out of it."

"I see them for what the actually are, nothing more, nothing less."

"Aw, where's your sense of vision?"

"On this planet, right here."

Andy laughed.  "You're too well grounded to think outside your own sphere of influence."

"Very funny, McGee," he caught her obvious sarcasm with ease.  "Weren't you planning on returning by now?"

"Originally, but I got side tracked."

"By the stars?"

"No, by memories."  She started down the path towards the castle, Snape by her side.  He didn't bother to ask for an explanation.  Andy reached out her hand to grasp his.  She could feel him tense up slightly.  He wasn't used to this.  She could feel the strength in his grip, the calluses on his palm and figured from their constant use.  His fingers were long and thin, but not as fragile as they looked.

Snape had not expected her to be this forthcoming.  Then again, Andy had never been known for her patience or her logic.  At least she hadn't done anything major yet.  Holding hands he could deal with, as awkward as it was for him.  He hadn't held anyone's hand like this for years on end.  He was a bachelor at heart.  As much as people had tried to play match maker with him, no one had been a match.  None of the women he had seen had understood his ambitions or his goals.  The matches hadn't lasted very long.  The women had given up with him and he had given up trying to find some one.  He had never been lonely; he was a loner by nature.

As they reached the castle, Andy let him go.  There was no reason to embarrass him in front of anyone who saw them.  They continued in silence down to the dungeons, Snape deep in thought, Andy focused on her own ideas.  She stopped in front of her room, pushed open the door, and turned to completely face Snape.  "Thanks, Sev."

"For what?"

"For being yourself."

"Explain."

"When everyone else changes, you don't.  You're still the dark, dreary, sarcastic Slytherin no matter what happens."

"Right," Snape decided that she had one too many drinks that night.

Andy took a quick glance down the corridor.  No one was there.  She stood up on her tip toes and kissed him lightly on the cheek.  Not waiting for a reaction, she quickly stepped inside the room and gently closed the door.

Snape's eyes widened as he realized what she had done.  "You little bitch!" he hissed dangerously at the closed door.  He flew back to his room in rage.  How dare she think that she could do something like that to him?  What the hell had gotten into her?  Yes, it was his idea, but he didn't want to go that far this soon, maybe not at all.  He let his breathing slow back down to normal and unclenched his fists from the tight knots they had curled into.  He was a Slytherin!  He was not meant to be lovable!  He was meant to be cruel, cunning, and manipulative! What ever she had been thinking about him, it was wrong.  She was going to have to learn very quickly how things worked.

{Author's Note:  Bwahahaha!  Just a warning, the first part of this chapter was written between one and two in the morning and the rest of it was written during a Friday, so if none of it makes any sense what so ever, oh, well…I will say one thing:  Poor Sev.  He doesn't know what he's jumping into.  And I GOT 62 REVIEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  If any of you want to be notified when I post, either leave your e-mail address in a review or click the little box in the corner that says Author Alert or something like that.

Hikahi:  Thank you, I'm tickled.  I should be doing a Physics lab instead of posting this, so you're not the only one.  I'm not your friend Erica, though.  My actual name does not even resemble the name Erica.  I'm glad you liked it.

Michelle:  Thanks.  My best friend is a Newsies fanatic and forced me to listen to the soundtrack almost nonstop for two weeks at a summer camp we went to.

Silver Jinx:  I'm not sure if they fight, but things definitely happen.  I purposely choose not to describe things just because in another story I was writing I went over board on descriptions and that bugged the hell out of me.  Thanks, though I will say there are better than I am and I'm not as great as most people think I am.

Ignominia:  Yes, it is!  Which nagging errors would these be?

WeasleyTwinsLover1112:  Exactly my point.  Thanks.

Anna Black:  I know the feeling.  I'm not sure if Remus will have to be a mediator again. I am honestly almost done writing this thing.  I'm working on 34 as I write this, which may or may not be the ending.  I might use the quote.  I don't know yet.  I like my flash backs.  Those usually tend to go through my head until they drive me upo a wall to get written.  I also read the LOTR thingy you wrote.  It was interesting.  I thought you were going to go in depth a bit more and start a whole chapter book, but for a short piece it wasn't bad.  Could have used a bit more detail, though.

Enjoy!  Peace, Love, and Fuzzy Bunny Slippers, Nataly Ravenlock}


	30. Puzzle Pieces

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to, Scholastic Books and Warner Brothers.  I, therefore, own no parts of this save Andromeda McGee and Wyvern, who are figments of my imagination.}

**Chapter 30**

**Puzzle Pieces**

_**Don't let me second guess / What I know to be real/ Put away all I know for tonight/ And maybe I just might learn to let it go/ Take my security from me/  And maybe finally I won't have to know everything/ I am falling into grace to the unknown to where you are/ And faith makes everybody scared it's the unknown/ The don't-know that keeps me hanging onto you/ I got nothing left to defend "Unknown" Lifehouse**_

Andy slumped again the wall, grateful for its early morning coolness.  Her headed throbbed mercilessly with the metronome beat of a drummer echoing off the walls of her skull.  She moaned, rubbing her eyes and cursing the little voice inside her that was calling her a stupid idiot for drinking too many martinis.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

She mumbled something that sounded like distinctly like "Sod off."

"I don't think so.  You're coming with me, McGee.  It would do you no good to have students see you like this."

Another garbled response came.  She slowly lifted an arm, more needing than wanting help to get up.  Snape stared at her hand for a moment before deciding that she actually did require the assistance.  With a hand on her back, he guided her into his lab.  He silently handed her a dark brown phial.  Andy gazed at it, doing nothing.

"You are supposed to drink it."

She lifted her eyes away from the potion and began to clearly enunciate her words.  "I know.  I was deciding whether or not it would be wise.  I was attempting to teach myself not to do that again.  Taking the potion would dull the consequences."

"That is the whole point of why I gave it to you.  We need to talk and you need to be able to think straight."

"Fine," she tipped back the vial and closed her eyes.  Almost miraculously the pain vanished.  She reopened her eyes to a clear, non-spinning world.  "Now that the marching band has ceased playing in skull, what do you want?"

"I want to know why you did what you did last night."

"I have three words for you."

Snape gave her an odd look.

"No, not those words, you bastard!  I was inebriated."  She ticked each word off on her fingers.  "That's three."

"There was something else, you weren't that far gone."

"Well, yes, I suppose that might have been some thing else…"

"Tell me."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"McGee, just stop your stalling and give me an explanation."

"Fine, if you really want one.  Sirius was watching.  His door was open and he easily saw us there."

"And you kissed me just to get him riled up.  Congratulations, you've almost learned how to plot against some one."

"You didn't think I meant something by it, did you?"

"I told you before, there is nothing serious behind any of this.  I just wanted to know if it was simply because you were intoxicated."

"Sure you did," Andy replied, not believing any word of what he had said.  "Look, I apologize for doing it, if that's what your problem was."

"You don't need to apologize for it."

"If it made you hunt me down at," she looked at her watch, "before seven in the morning, then its needs an apology because it obviously confused you.  So how about dinner?"

"Dinner?"

"Sure, why not?  Think of it as part of the plot.  Black is next door to me, you know.  He'd be thoroughly aware if you were to come over."

"What time?"

"Let's say around eight, my room."

"You have yourself a deal."

"Marvelous.  I shall see you then."  Andy left the room, leaving Snape to wonder about her once again.

"Why, Remus, I ask you why?"

"Padfoot, Andy is perfectly capable of surviving on her own."

"That's what I'm afraid.  She still won't listen to me!  I've tried, I really have!  I can't get through to her!"

"I am honestly not surprised with her reaction."

Sirius stopped his pacing to face the werewolf.  "Why?  She's always listened to me before."

Remus leaned back in the chair, arms crossed over his chest.  "For those three months that you refused to talk with her, her life was completely miserable.  If you noticed, not only did she all of the sudden close her self away from the world, which is highly un-Andy like behavior, she stopped eating for a while, she stopped talking to people, she was highly depressed!  She even stopped talking with me, just because of you."

"I know."

"No, you don't know, Sirius.  She has every right not to listen to you.  You killed every chance with every dark word you said.  Slamming the door in her face was just the beginning.  I bet you that she remembers every insult you called her, every time you told her that she couldn't be trusted, every one of your angry glares."

"Remus, I..."

"No, listen to me.  She came in here one night, balling her eyes to me because of something you had said.  Do you know awkward it was to have one of your friends do that to you and know that another friend caused her pain?  No, you don't and that's where your problem lies."

"Fine, I'm listening, okay?  I know what I did to her was wrong.  All I want to do is apologize."

"Andy is currently plotting your demise; she is not going to take that very well or easily.  It will take awhile."

"Yeah, I suppose it will."

"Give her time.  She knows you are trying to talk with her.  Eventually she might give in."

"Might?  She's turned me away more than once, walked out on me, burned the letter I tried to send to her."

"That's my point.  You chose the wrong person to piss off.  She's almost as bad as Snape with holding grudges."

"That's the other thing: she and Snape!"

"What's wrong with that?"

"She's spending too much time with him."

Remus laughed.  "No matter how hard you try, she's not yours anymore.  She can spend time with whoever she wants to, even if it is Snape."

"But I saw her kiss him!"

"Where?"

"What do you mean, where?  They were outside her room."

"No, where did she kiss him, lips, cheek?"

"Cheek, why?"

"You have nothing to worry about, then.  If you remember, our Andy is also one of the biggest teases in Hogwarts' history.  A kiss on the cheek is nothing serious.  She's kissed me before.  She probably did it just to piss him off."

"But you're a Gryffindor!  He's a Slytherin, and a greasy one at that!"

"Which is why she would do it, because we all Snape hates Gryffindors and probably hasn't had a girl in who knows how long.  Andy takes great pleasure in infuriating the man."

"She's doing a wonderful job infuriating me right now!"

"And she's probably enjoying every minute of that, too."

"How can you say such a thing, Moony?"

"You made her life a horrible mess, why shouldn't she do the same for yours?  It would make perfect sense."

"Yes, but…" Sirius trailed off, not wanting to believe it.

"Let me tell you something.  Andy told me that she and Snape worked together for years under the old Potions Master.  She said that was the only reason that they ever got along was because the old bat had forced the two of them to work with each other.  All they'll ever have is a working relationship, nothing to worry about."

"Why didn't she ever tell me?"

"I believe her almost exact words were 'Sirius might have killed one or both of us if he knew it was just me and Snape in the dungeons.'  She didn't want anybody to get hurt."

"She still should have told me."

"She just told me a few months ago because she knew I wouldn't harm anyone.  She also warned me not to tell you until after the Quidditch match so no one would get hurt then either."

"Pity, I have yet another reason to murder Severus Snape now.  When I get my hands on him, he's going to be one sorry bastard."

"Do wait until after the Quidditch match.  It is impossible to play without a Seeker and he's the only one we have."

"Fine.  I suppose I can wait."

Snape calmly walked down the hall towards Andy's room.  It was a minute to eight o'clock.  For what he knew, she was not a stickler on time.  He knocked at the door.

"It's open!" Andy's muffled voice was followed by a loud crash and a few explicatives.  He reluctantly opened the door to the room, expecting the worse.  An orange blur shot out, nearly missing his legs.

"Damn cat!"  He cursed the creature.  He glanced around the room anticipating complete chaos.  What he saw was far from it.  The Gryffindor had some how managed to clean up the entire area.  A table and two chairs sat in front of the fireplace, neatly set and adorned with floating candles.  An ice bucket sat nearby, chilling a bottle of wine.  Rachmaninoff played in the background, countering with the sizzling coming from the kitchen.  He stood by the door, arms crossed, and waited for her to make an appearance.

"I'll be right out, just have take this off the burner…"  A few seconds later Andy appeared, carrying a large bowl of what ever dinner happened to be.  She set it on the table.  Tucking a loose tendril of hair behind her ear, she turned toward the visiting Slytherin.  "Well, don't you clean up nice."  He had indeed cleaned up very nicely.  He was wearing a simple black pair of pants, and a black Oxford type shirt, but what impressed her the most was that his hair was washed and combed.

"I could say the same to you as well."

"But…"

"There was no 'but."

"You implied one," Andy put her hands on her hips.  She had ended up in a nice pair of black dress pants and a striped tank sweater.

"Slytherins don't do complements."

She pouted.  "Alright, if you say so.  Have a seat, it's all ready.  I hope you can use chopsticks."

Snape looked warily at the bowl in the middle of the table, then to the chopsticks crossed over his plate and the perspiring glass of white wine that Andy had just poured him.  "How far did you have to go to find a decent Chinese restaurant?" he asked after successfully picking up a shrimp with his chopsticks.

"Not very.  The kitchen was close enough."

"The Kitchen, I'm not familiar with that one."

"Sev, I cooked this.  Well, stir-fried it, actually, if you want to be specific."

"You made this?"

Andy solemnly nodded her head.  "Of course I did!  I am perfectly capable of creating edible food."

"I'm impressed, McGee.  I was fully expecting you to have made the house elves make something up."

"Nope, I made it.  I made desert too, but that's for later."

"How long did you spend on this?"

"A few hours, between finding the ingredients and actually preparing them, I think.  The stir-frying itself only takes about a half hour with all the preparation.  Desert took a little longer, but that was because that was a new recipe."

He raised his eye brows, not expecting her to have spent that much time on creating one meal and for him nonetheless.  "You didn't have to do that."

"I know, but it was fun.  I haven't had a reason to break out the wooden spoons in a long time."

"What exactly is this that you made?"

"I'm not exactly sure.  I used a few different recipes.  Basically, it's shrimp scampi with vegetables over pasta.  The sauce is a wine and butter with a bit of ginger.  I improvised most of it.  Why do you ask?"

"Because I want to know what I am eating."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't try to poison you, especially in my own room.  That would be too easy to trace."

"I know that."

"Do you?"

"You wouldn't use poison.  It's too subtle for your Gryffindor mind."

"Very funny, even though you probably are right.  Poison wouldn't be as much fun as slowly strangling you to death with my bare hands."

"McGee," he warned her.

"Alright, fine, not tonight, no death threats, except for maybe Sirius…" Andy noticed his empty plate.  "You all finished?"

"Yes."

She stood up, clearing the table.  Balancing the dishes on one hand and the remainder of the scampi on the other, she returned to the kitchen.  With a flick of her wand, they were cleaned and put away, the shrimp saved for Wyvern.  She turned to walk out of the small room to see Snape there holding the rest of the dishes.  "Oh, thanks."  The dishes disappeared like the others had.  "You didn't have to help, I could handle it."

He shrugged.  "I wanted to see the rest of your rooms."

"Alright, if you say so."  Andy opened up the small refrigerator and pulled out a covered container.  "Do you want desert now or do you want to wait?"

"What is it?"

She popped the lid with a flourish.  "Black Forest Cheesecake.  This is what took me the few hours.  Damn difficult things, cheesecakes."

"Then why did you make one?"

"I did it to see if I could still make one.  So do you want it or not?"

"Is it edible?"

"It should be."

"Fine, slice it up."

"Do you want coffee or tea with it?  I have both around here some where."

"Tea, please."

"Alright, give a few minutes to get things together."

Snape left the room with the plate of Black Forest Cheesecake and sat down on the overstuffed red leather couch that had been moved to where the table had been.  He hadn't expected Andy to do any of this.  He had maybe expected something that the house elves had cooked up, but not for her to have slaved for hours in her kitchen for him.  It had surprised him that she cooked, though it probably shouldn't have.  With her potions experiences, why wouldn't she understand the subtleties of spices and flavorings?  She was rather good at it and he had immensely enjoyed what she had prepared.  He took a bite of the cheesecake as Andy reentered the room holding two steaming mugs of tea.

"It's Earl Grey, only thing I could find that would go with the cheesecake.  Green tea with mint just wouldn't do it," she placed the mug on the end table and sat down on the other side of the couch.  "Does it pass?"

"Yes," he surprised himself with saying.  "It does.  Where did you learn to do all of this?"

Andy laughed before answering.  "My father taught me a lot of it, actually.  He'd come over on weekends over the summer and we'd cook.  My mum wanted nothing to do with me, but dad was still there, so he taught me what he knew.  Ben, of course, forced me to prepare dinner and such for him so I had practice.  I spent the summers cooking, that's all."

"And you retained all of it after what happened to you?"

"Sure, it had nothing to do with my memories of myself.  It's the same reason I remembered the piano and the Spanish and a bit of martial arts.  They had nothing to do with who I actually was, just stuff I learned to do."

Snape took another bite of the cheesecake.  It was addicting after awhile.  He took a deep breath, not wanting to admit to what he would have to say.  "I am thoroughly impressed with all of this, McGee."

"Wow!  That wasn't too hard to do.  I'll have to remember that.  The easiest way to impress Severus Snape is with a good, home-cooked meal.  How long has it been since you've had one?"

"I cook perfectly fine for myself when school is not in session."

"How about the last time you had someone else cook for you?"

He paused before answering, thinking about the last time.  "Years.  The last girlfriend I had couldn't tell salt from sugar."

"That bad, eh?  You must have been highly disappointed."

"That was why we broke up."  It had been that and a few other reasons that weren't worth mentioning.

"I'm sorry, that was probably a very bad topic," she peered at him over the rim of her over-sized mug.  "I'll cook for you sometimes if you want me to.  It's rather boring only cooking for one person."

"Why me?  Why not someone else?"

"Because you need it more than anyone else and the rest of the faculty still hates me from when I was a student here, so there is no one else.  Plus, you seemed to enjoy it."

"What about Lupin?"

"He put up with my cooking skills for years.  He's used to it."

"Your friends used to make you cook for them?"

"No, I chose to do it.  It annoyed the hell out of the house elves when I started small fires in the corner of the dormitories to stir-fry over.  They never liked me doing that for some reason."

"So that explains why they would grumble about the scorch marks in the Gryffindor Common room."

"Yeah, after a few times, I got it to be fuel-less and portable but that took a bit of time.  Until then, they had to put up with me."

"What about the rest of your house?"

"They didn't care.  As long as I cleaned up after myself, they didn't bother me, I got to cook, and the rest of the gang got food."

Snape looked at his watch.  "It's getting late.  I'd better get going, especially if we have practice early tomorrow morning."

"Alright," Andy walked him to the door.  "Bye, Sev.  Just owl me when you want to do it again.  I have a new lasagna recipe I want to try sometime."

"You have yourself a deal.  I suppose I should thank you, McGee."

"It was nothing."

"No, thank you.  It was enjoyable.  Good night."

Andy watched him stalk down the hall in a blur of black.  What an odd man.  She had gotten him to loosen up a bit.  It had surprised her that he had liked her cooking.  The dishes she had made were nothing spectacular.  The cheesecake was the more difficult of what she had created, but that had turned out close to perfect.  There were only a few cracks on the top.  She laughed to herself, leaning against the door.  The poor man probably hadn't done anything like that in, literally, years.  That was what he got for getting himself involved with Andromeda McGee.  He had been serious about the lasagna thing, too.  That was for next time.

Snape strolled back to his room, hands shoved in his pockets, and a slight smile on his face.  Yes, it had been years since he had done something like that.  Andy was a nice girl, but she was not his.  They were only friends.  It helped a good amount that she could cook.  That had highly impressed him.  It had been the first time that someone had made him a special dinner in a long time.  The scampi dish had been simply delightful and the cheesecake, he shook his head, that had been as near to perfection as a cheesecake could be.  He almost felt content with life.  It was a pity that her talent had been wasted on a Gryffindor.

{Author's Note:  That was a long one, but I promise more action to come.  The next chapter is the Quidditch match.  From what ideas I have for that chapter, things will get pretty interesting to say the least.  Yes, interesting definitely describes them.  Insert evil laughter here  The plot bunnies are returning!  Some how I have always pictured my plot bunnies as the little while rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  That's a point to think about.  Just to warn you, the first half of this was written between 12:30 and 2 in the morning.  

Anna Black:  I shall have to read it again.  Yes, poor Snape.  He honestly does not realize what he's getting involved with.  Lover's spat at breakfast?  Maybe in the sequel that I am considering writing.  He hasn't gotten himself too involved with her yet to realize that he maybe likes her.  Yes, poor Sirius as well, but that's his problem.  He chose the wrong person to mess with.  But things change…And olives are a part of martinis, not margaritas.  The chapter did say martini and I'm not hallucinating.  My friend Kate was sitting next to me when I checked.  She saw 'martini.'  A margarita is a frozen drink.  I don't remember exactly what they're made of, but I think its tequila and lime.

VMorticia:  It gets more confusing, that's all I have to say.  Just out of curiosity, where do you think that its going?

WeasleyTwinsLover1112:  No, not cuddly.  Somehow when you said that, I kept thinking about the scene from 'Lilo and Stitch' with whole "You forgot Fluffy!"  Never mind.

Hikahi:  Of course I updated!  I have up to chapter 33 written so all I have to do is find time to post the chapters and write author's notes to them and finish the story, but that'll take a while.  Yeah, poor Snape, that's what I said.  I glad you liked that part.  If you want to know when I update, just give you e-mail in a review.  I have a list on my yahoo account that I use for update notices.  You can be as hooked as you want.  I'm hooked on writing this; you can be hooked on reading it.

Ignominia:  Those would be my fortes, even more so since school started and the only classes I look forward to are AP Physics and Sculpture.

Enjoy!  Peace, Love, and More Coffee Ice Cream, Nataly Ravenlock}


	31. To The Death!

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to, Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore own no parts of this except for Andromeda McGee and Wyvern, who are twisted figments of my own imagination.}

**Chapter 31**

**To The Death**

_**"You think I guessed wrong, that's what's so funny!  I switched glasses when your back was turned!  Ha, ha you fool!  You've fallen victim to one of the classic blunders!  The most famous is "Never get involved in a land war in __Asia__," but the only slightly less well known is this- "Never go in against a Sicilian, when death is on the line!" Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha h-!" (Falls over dead) Vizzini, The Princess Bride**_

Snape billowed down the halls to the Quidditch pitch, broomstick resting against his shoulder.  It was a Nimbus 2002, one of the new models and souped up with a few of his own spells.  He figured that it was probably illegal but as long as no one else knew about it, he was fine.  He noticed a figure approaching him.

"Severus, just the man I wanted to see.  I need a word with you."

"Fine, what do you want, Lucius?  I have a Quidditch match."

Lucius Malfoy narrowed his cold, grey eyes.  "I know.  The Master requires the potions he requested."

"They are in my lab.  The password is _Atropa__ belladonna."_

"Very well, the Master shall be please.  He also instructed me to give you this," he handed Snape a letter embossed with the Dark Mark and disappeared toward the laboratory.

Snape broke the seal and scanned the contents.  His face tightened into a scowl before he finished.  What the hell was this?  "Use the Quidditch match as a diversion.  Keep it going as long as possible.  We need time to get everything set up."  Set up for what?  No one had bothered to tell him the plans, probably on purpose.  It was most likely a good thing he didn't know.  All his Master had wanted was a large collection of potent sleeping potions.  He swore to himself, envisioning what could occur.  There was no way to prevent this.  If he was right, the plan was almost flawless as far as he could tell.  He would have to go along with it; there was a Quidditch match to play.  He hoped Malfoy knew what he was attempting to do.

He approached the pitch, finding the men's locker room devoid of occupants.  Black and Lupin were lat, as usual.  He found his Quidditch robes hanging on a hook and changed into the full uniform.  He had missed playing the game.  The Slytherin team had been one of the best.  It had been the elder Crabbe and Goyle as beaters, Malfoy, Macnair, and Nott as Chasers, Lestrange as Keeper, and himself as Seeker.  Of course, it didn't help that all of them had turned out to become Death Eaters.  Where were they now?  He knew Malfoy was being a philanthropist and worked on the governor's board, while, of course, still maintaining Malfoy Manor's dark arts defense system.  Crabbe and Goyle both worked in some low level Ministry position, neither with enough brains to get farther.  Macnair was an executioner, Nott had disappeared, and Lestrange had been in Azkaban until a few months ago.  And he had become a professor to a bunch sniveling brats.  What had changed them from a bunch of Quidditch obsessed young adults to the dark dreary life of working for an evil overlord?  He shook his head, entering the main room to wait for the rest of the team.

Andy, being the morning person that she is, was already there, though her Quidditch over robes were thrown in a heap in the corner along with the boots.  Snape decided that her current intent was to become the world's first living origami sculpture, as she was folding herself into many unique shapes.  He watched closely as she stretched, leaning against the far wall with arms crossed over his chest.

"Good morning, Sev," she noticed him as one of her stretches brought her to face him.

"You make me sick, McGee."

"What, because I can fold myself in half?"  She demonstrated, easily doing so.

"Yes."

"You're just jealous because you can't do it."

"No, not at all.  Human bodies were not created to be used as modeling clay."

"Sure," Andy slid into a full split, giving Snape all the more reason to wince.  She then proceeded to lower her upper body to the floor, arms outstretched in front of her.

"People are not meant to bend in that direction either."

"Why not?"

"They just aren't"

Andy laughed as she drew herself standing.  She bent over backward, hands touching the floor.  "It's not that difficult.  Have you ever tried it?"

"Some," he admitted.  "You make it look way too god damn easy."

She flipped herself back up, brushing a spec of dust off her loose black pants.  "Its harder than you think.  It took me months to get back to be able to do that.  It still hurts for the most part."  She leaned over the other direction, placing both palms flat on the floor without bending her knees.

"And why, pray tell, do you choose to purposely inflict pain on yourself?"

She came back to stand upright.  "Because in the end it's for my own good and I feel wonderful when I'm done," she paused.  "Except for my right shoulder which does not like me today for some reason."  She began to rub it with her palm.  "You want to do me a favor and help?"  Snape came up behind her and began to knead her back, neck, and shoulders.  Andy arched under his strong fingers.

"You're like a little dog getting its ears scratched."

"Just remember, I do attack."

"I've learned."

"Yeah, I suppose you have.  Thanks, Sev," she sighed contentedly.  Snape stopped the massage, hearing footsteps just outside the room.  Andy heard the same thing and dropped back to the floor in a stretch.  The Slytherin returned to his earlier position and glared at her for being able to tie herself in knots.

"You still should not be able to do that."

Madame Hooch stepped briskly into the room followed closely by Professors Vector and Sinistra; all three of them immaculately dressed in the black Quidditch robes.  "Where are Black and Lupin?"

Andy shrugged, rising off the floor.  "Probably late, Sirius was never a morning person."

"So you don't know?"

"Not at all," she looked over to Snape.  "Hey, Sev, go check to locker room."

"No."

"You are the only male here, you know," she noticed his dark expression.  "Fine, I'll do it."  The diminutive Gryffindor stalked down the hall to the other room and threw open the door.  Remus was completely dressed and lacing up a tall boot.  Sirius, on the other hand, hadn't gotten much farther than boxers and a black tee-shirt.  "Great, you two are alive.  Hooch wants us out there for a pre-game talk.  And Sirius, put some pants on."  Andy sped away, leaving the two men slightly shocked.

Sirius quickly pulled on the missing garment along with his boots.  "Hey, that's the first thing she's said to me that wasn't sarcastic or depressing."

"It wasn't exactly a good thing, Padfoot."

"No, but it is an improvement."

Andy had thrown on her Quidditch robes and boots by the time the other men had entered the room.  "I told you they were coming."

"Alright, let's get down to business.  We have a Quidditch match to play.  All of you are the best that we have to offer.  We've trained hard and our skills probably rival a semi-professional team.  Yes, I know we could get better, but for now we'll do with what we've got.  Does everyone remember the attack plan?"  Six heads nodded an affirmative.  "Good.  I want all of you to remember one important thing:  it doesn't matter how you play the game, it's whether you win or lose."

"Wait a second," Octavia Vector spoke up.  "Haven't you got that backwards?"

"No, I haven't.  The people out there don't expect much from us.  They think of a professor as a decrepit old hag or a sagging gnome.  We are going to show them something that they'll never forget, that will change their ideas of this school's faculty.  We are honestly some of the best Quidditch players you will find that aren't already professional.  Any of you could have been professionals.  I know our beaters almost were and I was for a few years.  The rest of you should have been.  The Gryffindors stand no chance against us.  We are going to win this."

"So you're saying we can play how ever we want to?"

Hooch nodded her spiked head.  "As long as no one gets grievously injured or killed and the tactics at least look legal or can be proved through loop holes, yes you can."  She looked at the clock on the wall.  "It's almost time.  Let's go get 'em!"!  Seven players with seven brooms walked proudly onto the Quidditch pitch.

"The Hogwarts' faculty team shows great promise this year.  Lead by Madame Hooch as Chaser, as well as Professors Vector and Sinistra completing the threesome, Beaters Professors Black and McGee, Keeper Professor Lupin, and Seeker Professor Snape!"  There was some reaction, namely from the Slytherins going for Professor Snape, as the professors lifted into the air.  "And here comes the Gryffindor team!  The Lions have been a nearly unstoppable combination this season!  Lead by the illustrious Angelina Johnson as Chaser with the stunning Alicia Spinnet and breath-taking Katie Bell filling out the trio.  Those three have got to be the loveliest…"

"LEE!"

"Sorry, professor.  Fred and George Weasley are back for their last year as the team's most superb Beaters, who skills are unmatched as far as we know."

Some where out on the field both Andy and Sirius snorted in disbelief.  Lee Jordan hadn't seen anything yet.

"The Gryffindor's new Keeper, Ron Weasley has improved greatly over the season and here's the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen, Harry Potter!"  The crowd went wild, roaring and cheering for the Gryffindors.  Well, most of the crowd.  The Faculty team held the Slytherins complete support since they firmly opposed anything the dealt with Gryffindor.

Dumbledore was refereeing the match and started it off with a handshake between the two captains.

"And the Quaffle is up!  The professors take control.  Vector to Sinistra, Sinistra to Hooch and back to Vector!  It's moving so fast I can barely see it!  Score!  10-0, professors in the lead!  Gryffindor takes possession, all three gorgeous Chasers making their way down the field at top speed!  The Quaffle's going…going…it's a miraculous save by Professor Lupin!"

Remus had managed to somehow flip backwards and caught the Quaffle just before it had entered one of the goals.  He chucked it easily across the field to one of the Chasers.

Harry watched over the crowd, emerald eyes searching for a golden glint in the sunlight.  Across the field, he saw Professor Snape doing the same thing.  He had never expected the greasy ex-Potions Master to play Quidditch, but obviously he did.

"Harry, duck!  Bludger!"  Harry leaned forward, feeling his hair ruffle as the homicidal ball zipped past his head.  "Sorry, Harry!" George shouted as he sped after the Bludger.  "The professors are giving us bloody hell!"

Harry saw his godfather easily aiming the Bludgers at the Gryffindor Chasers.  Sirius reached out too far and somersaulted off his broom.  He swore to himself, remembering that Andy still wasn't talking to him.  It hit his mind like a sledgehammer; a sliver of doubt if she would be there to catch him…

Andy saw her teammate plummet toward the ground and rocketed forward with as must speed as her broom could muster.  She caught Sirius on the back of her broomstick.  He wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning his head over her shoulder.

"I thought you would forget about me."

"I'm not that cruel.  I just want to make your life miserable, not to let you die."

"Andy, we need to talk."

"We are talking."  She felt uncomfortable with him so close to her.  His breath was hot on her cheek and she could feel where his hands held her tightly.  Why did he have to be there?  Maybe it would have been better to let him fall.

"You know exactly what I mean."

"Fine, I'll give you two minutes after the match.  We have a game to play."

"Thanks, Andy," he kissed her on the cheek before he climbed back to his own broom.  Andy had stiffened under his touch.  She currently trusted his as far as she could throw him, which wasn't very far, unless she resorted to magic.

Using the Beater's display as a distraction, the three Chasers had managed to score another seven times on top of the 60-0 score that they had already accomplished.  The Gryffindors called a timeout.

"What the hell is going on?" Angelina Johnson was livid.

"Well, um…" Harry started.  He had been too bust looking for the Snitch to pay attention elsewhere.

"They're better than we are," Fred hazarded a guess.

"Lupin hasn't let a shot in yet," Alicia spoke up.

"We've tried every tactic we know," Katie added.  "We've tried speed, feinting, looping, and everything else and nothing works!"

"They've got to be doing something illegal!" Ron complained.  "I've tried to block the goals, but they keep getting them past and I don't know how."

"And their Beaters are something else.  They're as bad as hellhounds!" George finished.

"Fine.  That's enough.  Here's our new plan.  Harry, find the Snitch as fast as you can.  I don't care what the points are.  This match just needs to end soon."  The Gryffindors remounted their brooms.

Harry scanned the sky, hoping the Golden Snitch would appear as soon as possible.  He watched as Madame Hooch scored another goal.  Poor Ron.  He didn't want to be in his position.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a glint of gold down by the professors' goal posts.

"Potter looks like he's seen the Snitch!  Professor Snape's close on his tail, but the Nimbus 2002 is no match for a Firebolt, folks.  He's going for it!  Wait a sec, Professor Vector's scored!  That's 150-0!  Potter's got the Snitch!  It's a tied game!  150-150!"

Both teams did a victory lap around the stadium.  The entire crowd cheered.  Flags waved, banners rippled, people waved and clapped.  The gathering began to disperse as both teams entered their separate locker rooms.

"Hey, Andy!  Wait up!"

Andy stood by the entrance to the locker rooms, arms crossed over her chest.  "You have two minutes, Sirius, starting now."  She depressed a button on her watch.

He paused for a moment, collecting any loose thoughts.  "I…wanted to apologize…I was wrong to have ever thought that you would have sided with the Dark Lord.  I'm sorry, Andy, I really am."

She looked at him, not knowing if he was truly serious.  "I'm sorry that you ever doubted me as well.  I thought you would have known me well enough to realize that in the first place."

"I didn't think."

"Damn right you didn't!"

"Look, I apologize.  I know I can't take back what I did, but I can try to make it up to you."

"You can try.  It wouldn't work, but you can try.  You can't heal the wounds you gave me.  Only time can do that."

"I told you I was sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Sirius.  It's the beginning.  You don't know the pain you caused me."

"No, I don't know the pain I caused you.  All I know it that you are hurt and I want to make it better."

"I accept your apology."

"Thanks, Andy."

"Don't thank me.  It's going to take a while to rebuild what we had.  You're going to have to regain my trust."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Go right ahead."

"What is it between you and Snape?"

She smiled.  Sirius hadn't changed.  He still was protective of 'his' girl.  "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Sirius did a very impressive impression of fish out of water.  At least she hadn't said they were together or anything.  That had to count for something.

Andy's watch beeped.  "That's your two minutes."  She turned away from him and walked down the hall.  Madame Hooch was just beginning a post game discussion.

"Team, I want to congratulate you.  That was most excellent match.  It would have better if there had been a clear winner, but a tie is better than nothing.  Thank you.  I know I enjoyed myself immensely.  I hope the rest of you did as well."  There was some nodding of heads.  "Great!  Now, as for a celebration, I propose we get cleared up and go over to the Three Broomsticks.  Is that fine by everyone?"

"Sure."

"Yes."

"Uh-huh."

Some just nodded, not having the energy to do much else.

"Let's meet back here in twenty minutes.  That should give everyone enough time to shower and get fixed up."

The team separated into the different locker rooms.  It only took Andy a few minutes to take a shower and pull on a clean pair of robes with her sandals.  She returned to the room to find Snape just leaving.  "You aren't leaving, Sev."

He spun around slowly to face her.  She saw the look of defeat in his eyes.  "Yes, I am.  I don't do parties."

She walked up to him, looking him in the eye.  "It's not your fault.  He's a Potter.  You did the best you could do."

"It wasn't enough."

"Yes, it was.  Don't be so hard on yourself."

That was like telling him not to be sarcastic or to all of the sudden fly to moon.  "I was beaten by my enemy's son!  Do you know how that feels?"

"No, I don't, but I do know that kicking yourself for it is not going to do you any good at all.  He's just a boy.  It was probably a streak of dumb luck."

"You're insulting a fellow Gryffindor."

"No, I'm trying to convince you to just let it go so you don't go and do something stupid because of it, like drink yourself into a stupor."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea."

"Good, so you're coming."

"No, I am not."

"You just said that you want to get roaring drunk, so what better place than the Three Broomsticks?  They've got the best selection in this part of the U.K."

"You do have a point, though the team would be happier if I wasn't there."

"No, they wouldn't.  We'd miss you."

"McGee, if you haven't noticed most people tend to stay away from me."

"I don't."

"Well aren't you special," he snapped irritably.  "You don't care any way.  You have Black.  I heard him apologize to you."

"Just because he apologized doesn't mean things are back to the way they were.  I still don't trust him and he knows it.  And yes, I do care.  You are coming."

"No."

"Oh, yes you are.  I'll drag you there."

"Why would you feel the need to do something like that?"

"Because our Chasers will be together in one group, Sirius and Remus in another, I'd be alone if you weren't there and unfortunately, I happen to like you, despite what you think."

"How do you know what I think?  All the sudden you're psychic, are you?"

"No, I'm just a Gryffindor."

A drink was starting to sound like a very good idea.  "I'll go, but not for you.  You're giving me a headache enough to really need one."

"See?  I knew I could persuade you to go."

"Leave me alone, McGee."

"No, I don't think so.  You need to learn how to get along with people."

Snape simply glared.

{Author's Note:  This was a long, difficult chapter to write, but it was fun.  It was written on a four hour car ride in our new Saturn VUE.  It's amusing actually.  I finally got my driving permit the day after we got it, except my dad won't let me drive it yet.  Damn.  The chapter title (To The Death) is not paired with the wrong quote, for those of you who know the movie.  I was taking the first part of the quote and am planning on using the rest of it for the next chapter.  I know Andy's still being a bitch to Sirius, but she'll be forced to be civil soon enough.  Next chapter thing get even more interesting and you get to see the beginning of what my Death Eaters are planning.  Insert Evil Laughter Here!  Be scared, be very scared!  Here's a question: would any you want a sequel to go along with this?

LilyPotter:  I have never read the story you said that this sounds like.  I can assure you what is here is mine and mine alone.  I am very involved in acting and theater.  I spent two weeks over the summer at an acting camp doing Shakespeare, but I am more of a musical person.  We saw Jekyll and Hyde when it came near us.  It kicked ass!  In chorus last year we did a medley from Secret Garden.  I think this chapter answers your question.

Hikahi:  The fake dating thing came from my beta.  I was stuck a while ago and asked for ideas, so she wrote that part.  It happened to work.  That's okay.  I find things like that extremely amusing as well.  What's wrong with my Monty Python plot bunnies?

VMorticia:  The reason I choose to warn people about that is namely because at two in the morning, I tend to be a bit more dazed than I normally am.  One of my best friends and I have had conversations until around that time in the morning, that usually turn out to be very incoherent.  One time, we went from talking about Harry Potter, to physics, to Monty Python and then to Robin Hood: Men in Tights all within the span of a few hours.  It was pretty bad.  Snape refuses to explain why he broke up with his last girl friend, but I have a feeling it was because she did not appreciate the subtle science of potion making.

Iggie:  Alright, I can't spell.  I don't care.  I'll fix things eventually.

Peace, Love, and Chocolate, Nataly Ravenlock}


	32. No, To The Pain!

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to, Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this except for Andromeda McGee and Wyvern, who are parts of my twisted imagination.}

**Chapter 32**

**No, To The Pain!**

_**"No!__  To the pain.  And I'll explain.  I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon.  To the pain means the first thing you lose will be your feet below the ankles, then your hands at the wrists, next your nose.  I'm not finished.  The next thing you lose will be your left eye, followed by your right.  Your ears you keep!  I'll tell you why.  So that every shriek of every child who sees your hideousness will be yours to cherish.  Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, "Dear God, what is that thing?" will echo in your perfect ears.  That is what "to the pain" means.  It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever."  Westley, The Princess Bride**_

By the time the party was over, most of the team was rather unsteady.  The only exceptions were Remus, whose curse somehow gave him high tolerance and Snape, who chose not to drink much.  The rest of them, on the other hand, were more than a few bubbles beyond tipsy.

Andy had started off sitting with Snape, attempting to convince him that people weren't all really that bad and he should get out more.  That had become a lost cause after a while and she ended up playing drinking games with Sirius and Remus.  After a few drinks, any hatred she had disappeared.

"And then he said 'That's not a broomstick, it's a bloody mushroom!" Sirius was laughing before the end of his joke.

Andy chortled.  "Ay, that was a good one!  Did you hear this one before?  A warlock and a hag walk into a bar…"

"Alright, that's enough.  You two are coming with me," Remus pulled both of them aside.

"Hey, what's this for?  I'm in the middle of telling a story!  So the warlock goes to the hag 'Can I buy you a cup a tea?"

The werewolf took two vials from a pocket in his robes and handed them to his inebriated friends.  "Drink up."  They did so, having no other choice.

"What the hell?" Sirius looked at the vial.  "Moony!  Why did you have to go and ruin a perfectly good intoxicated day?"

"Because, if you weren't too drunk to notice, the entire town of Hogsmeade is staring at you."

"We weren't being that disruptive!"

"No, you weren't," he admitted.  They had done much worse before.  "I didn't want things getting any worse than they were."

"Come on, Moony, what about the time we got completely smashed and danced through the streets of London singing Beatles songs at the top of our lungs?"

"That's exactly what I didn't want to happen."

"Hey, we are not the only ones that had a few too many.  How about the rest of the team?"

"When they drink, they go quiet.  When you two drink, you have problems."

"So?  What's wrong with that?"

Remus didn't see a point in arguing.  "Nothing, nothing at all.  Come on, we should get back to the castle."

"Remus," Andy asked cautiously.  "We didn't hurt anybody, did we?  Or break anything?"

"No."

"Oh, good."

Sirius watched his shorter counterpart with a sad smile.  He wanted her back.  He wanted her to be 'his' again.  He missed holding her close in his arms.  He tentatively reached down and took hold of her hand.  He squeezed it gently.  Andy felt a nervous breath catch in her chest.  _Why? The little voice inside her head screamed at her.  __He hurt you!  Let him go!  Yes, he had hurt her.  She wasn't ready for anything yet.  The wounds needed to heal before they could restore what they had before.  She forced his hand away._

"No, Sirius, not yet.  I'm sorry, just give me time.  I'm not ready for anything."

"Alright," he wasn't thrilled that she still wanted nothing to do with him, but he respected her enough not to force her into anything she didn't want to do.  "Let me know when you are.  I'll be waiting for you."

"Thanks."  It was a beginning.

Snape rushed into the school, long legs carrying him easily down the familiar halls to the dungeons.  He hadn't wanted to go to the party, but it would have been suspicious he decided not to attend.  He wanted to know what Malfoy was plotting.  All he knew was that the Death Eaters were going to do something to Hogwarts maybe involving the sleeping potions that he brewed.  He pushed open the door to his room.  Another letter with the Dark Mark emblazoned on it sat innocently on an ebony end table.  The seal was broken with a crack of his knuckle.  It had only for words printed in a spidery scrawl that caused his normal frown to deepen.  _We attack at eight.  He looked at the clock.  It was 7:42.  He had eighteen minutes to convince Dumbledore that this was really going to happen.  The letter burst into flames killing any evidence he would have had.  Snape swore to himself as he jogged up to the Head Master's office._

"Blood Pops," he took the stairs two at a time.  The griffin knocker was ignored as he banged his fists on the door.  There was no answer.  He turned the knob, wand raised and expecting the worse.  All that came was dead silence.  "Albus?"  His voice almost seemed to echo.  Candles sputtered dim shadows over the room.  Snape could make out the shape of a person sprawled over the desk.  "Albus?"  He spoke again, a little louder than a whisper.  There was no response.  He picked up a limp wrist, checking for signs of a pulse.  It was there, though faint.  The Head Master was obviously asleep and not planning on awakening soon.  "_Enervate."  The spell had no effect to break the slumber.  Snape vehemently cursed Malfoy.  So this was what the bastard was planning.  They had no chance.  The Slytherin walked out of the office locking the door behind him.  There was nothing he could do.  No spell he knew of would remove the effects.  A revival potion would take too long to brew.  He supposed he should go find his robes and mask.  It would be to his benefit if he at least looked like he was playing the part.  Why?  That's all he wanted to know.  Why Hogwarts?  The only thing he could think of that they would want was Potter.  The cursed boy was a Gryffindor.  He knew where the common rooms were, but did not know the password to get into them.  There was someone who might know.  "McGee."_

"Oh, hey, Sev.  Do you know if Dumbledore's in his office?"

Snape did a double take.  Where the hell had she come from?  "He's there but he's in no condition to talk."

"They got him too?"

"What do you mean?"

"I was just in the library.  Students are out cold on the tables and Pince is snoring at her desk.  I tried to wake them, but nothing worked."

"I know.  Enervate is useless."

"So what happened?" Andy asked, knowing that he would know more than anyone else.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet."

"All I got is that it's something that knocks people out, either a potion or a spell.  Since it's all over the school, I'm guessing who ever did it used the ventilation system."

"It's a potion."

She nodded thoughtfully.  "Death Eaters?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Eight."

She looked at her watch then back at Snape.  "We're screwed."

"I thought you were an optimist."

"That is being optimistic.  It is 7:58.  In two minutes, this place is going to be crawling with your Death Eaters.  We have a grand total of six people to defend the castle if they haven't already succumbed to it already."

"Six?"

"Me, Sirius, Remus, Hooch, Vector, and Sinistra.  You have your own battle, so that's six."

"Do you have any plans?"

"Originally, I was planning on making a cup of mint tea and soaking a lavender bubble bath for a while, but that's not going to do any good now.  We'll make it up as we go along."

"You do realize that the fate of the world rests upon your shoulders?"

Andy shrugged.  "That's for Fate to decide.  I have a few ideas."  She paused hearing something.  "Oh, shit, they're here.  Come on!"  She grabbed a handful of his robes and dragged him into a seldom used broom closet.

"I didn't imagine your plan to involve broom closets," he snapped, not appreciating the fact that she had pulled him in with her and knowing very well what some of the broom closets are used for.

"Oh, is that what you want?  I suppose we could arrange that.  I know a waitress in the Three Broomsticks that's looking for someone."  She tapped her wand on an old hook.  The wall swung open, revealing a dimly lit passage.  "Follow me.  I suggest you stay close.  There are side tunnels going off of this one and it's pretty easy to get lost.  I'm not turning on any lights.  I don't want the Death Eaters to sense the magic."

"Where does this take us?"

"It should end underneath the tapestry just outside your room.  We have no time to waste.  Let's go."  She started down the passage, Snape following close behind.  The wall creaked shut; looking like it had never been a doorway.

He lost all track of time as Andy led him through the darkness.  It could have been a few minutes or a few hours for all he could tell.  He hoped she knew where she was going.  He felt himself collide with her as she suddenly stopped.  "We're going to get you brake lights, McGee."

"Shh!"  Andy pressed her ear against the wall.  "I don't hear anything.  They probably haven't gotten this far yet."  She stuck her head out the door to check her prediction.  Snape leaned over her shoulder.  She had been correct; the passage had ended directly across from his rooms.  She looked up at him, his natural pallor almost white in the dim lights of the hall.  "You go, I'll keep you covered."

"You're just going to let me go?"

"Sev, I trust you enough to let you do what you need to do.  I know what you are."

Snape nodded.  "I suggest you get into the Gryffindor Tower and get Potter out of here. They'll be looking for him."

"I was planning on doing that.  Don't get yourself killed."  Andy vanished down a side tunnel, leaving the Slytherin standing alone.  He looked down the dark opening where she had gone.  She was a peculiar little person.  She said she trusted him despite who he was.  He didn't comprehend any reasoning behind it.  A smirk echoed on his lips as he crossed the hall to his room.  Andy would put up one hell of a fight.  He pitied any Death Eater that got in her way.

The dark hooded robes and mask hung under an invisibility spell in his closet.  He put them on, not wanting to, but seeing no other choice.  He left his place of safety to join the rest of the Death Eaters.

Andy hurried down the side tunnels, not worrying about what Snape was going to do.  Those were his problems, not hers.  She figured that she would have to confront Sirius again, as much as she didn't want to.  It was her only choice.  It didn't matter to him.  Sirius Black had been a sweet person when she knew him, but he was never very empathic.  He knew what he wanted to do, but not what any one else wanted.  They had been friends, and later lovers.  She probably would have married him eventually, if both of them hadn't been shoved into their dark cells in Azkaban.  Now things were different.  He didn't understand how badly he had hurt her.  Andy had never been a very trusting person.  After what her mother had done to her as a child, she had no reasons to trust people.  They would only hurt her.  She had trusted Sirius, but the trust had disappeared.  It would be a long time until things were back to the way they were.

The passage ended at a blank wall.  She placed her palm on it.  "In the names of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, I, Shadow, command you to open."  The panel slid to reveal an entrance into the hall across from her rooms.  The Marauders had keyed the door only to open with the incantation.  Obviously, no one had changed it in all the years that had passed.  She stepped quickly across the hall, banging on Sirius's door.  With in a few moments, it opened.

"Hey, Andy, what's up?" Sirius looked surprised to see her at his door.

"Nothing much other than the fact that a herd of Death Eaters has infiltrated the castle."

"What?"

"Just let me in and I'll explain everything."

"Okay," he ushered her inside, still confused over what was going on.  "So what's going on?"

"While we were out partying, they some how pumped a knock out gas through the ventilation system.  The rest of the school is out cold.  It's only the team awake and the Death Eaters got here at eight."

He looked at her closely.  "You're sure of this?"

"Of course I'm sure!  I was in the library in few minutes ago.  I couldn't get Pince or the students up and Sev says that Dumbledore's the same way."

"Since when are you two on a nickname basis?"

"Since we wanted to be."

Sirius decided that she was doing this just to be infuriating and ignored it.  "So what's the plan?"

"We need to get Harry out of here.  They'll be after him."

"Let's go," he turned toward the door.

Andy put a hand on his arm.  "No, you're going.  You know him the best.  I'm going to round up the rest of the team."

"You want to go alone?  Is that safe?"

"Yeah, I work better by myself.  It'll be easier not to get seen with only one person.  I'm going to try and get a defensive started."

"Alright, I'll get Harry to some place they won't be able to find him."

"Thanks, Sirius.  Buena suerte."

Sirius smiled.  Andy tended to lapse back to Spanish when she got nervous and right now, she had a wonderful reason to be that way.  He didn't know more than a few phrases she had taught him years ago.  He remembered 'buena suerte' translated to 'good luck.'  "Good luck to you, too."

Andy returned to the passage she came from.  Thankfully, he had not tried anything and had listened to her.  It had gone well, in her opinion.  She shook her head, following the familiar dark tunnels.  He next stop would be the Defense rooms.  Remus would know what to do.  He always was able to plot and plan with the best of them.  Something collided with her as she turned a corner.  In a flash she pulled out her wand pointing it at who ever was there.  "Don't move," she hissed warningly.

"Calm down, Andy.  It's only me."

"Jeez, Moony, what the hell are you doing down here?"

"Probably the same thing you are.  There are Death Eaters in the castle."

"I know.  I've seen them.  They knocked out the rest of the school.  It's only the seven of us."

Remus peered into the deep shadows surrounding them.  "Where's Sirius?"

"I sent him to find Harry.  They'll be after him."

"Smart decision.  What's your plan?"

"Why does everyone think I always have plans?"

"You happen to take charge of the situations very easily, that's why."

"Oh," Andy thought for a moment.  "I haven't gotten much farther than we need a defensive going to distract the Death Eaters away from the Gryffindor Tower and some one needs to owl the Ministry."

"I'll get Hooch, she should be down here any way and we'll get a fight going.  You find the other two and get a message sent out."

"Alright.  See you later, Moony," she continued her way up the corridor.  The Astronomy Tower was closer from her current position.  It was the logical place to go first, though she did know how Sinistra would react.  The hall was happily deserted.  The Death Eaters wouldn't have found much up there.  Andy knocked lightly on the door.  After a few moments, Sinistra opened it.

"Yes?" she sounded puzzled.

Andy took a deep breath.  "I thought you should know that there are Death Eaters attacking the castle."

Without a sound, Sinistra's eyeballs rolled up in her as she fainted to the stones below.

"Well, that didn't go as well as expected," the Gryffindor muttered to herself.  She pulled the other woman inside her room with a flick of her wand.  She cast a quick spell so that the Astronomy professor would forget any mention of the Death Eaters when she awoke.  Obviously, they were Sinistra's weak spot.

Andy hurried down the back stair case to the Arithmancy room.  She hoped Vector would have a better response.  The door was slightly pushed open.  With her wand held out in front of her, she kicked it.  It swung back with a muffled thud, revealing an empty room.  She stepped inside, seeing Vector's body on the floor nearby.  "Oh, shit.  What the hell happened here?"

A few muffled syllables came from the gagged mouth.  Andy gently untied it.

"Thank you," the other woman was obviously shaken.  "They came in here, demanding to know where the Gryffindor tower is.  I told them I didn't know.  They didn't believe and tied me up.  They left me here."

Andy finished untying the woman.  "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I think, except for my right wrist.  I'm pretty sure it's broken."

"That's not good," she pointed her wand at the limb.  "_Ferula."  Bandages shot out of the end of the wand to wrap around the injury.  "I think that should do it.  I need you to send something to the Ministry telling them that we need all the help we can get.  I'd suggest going directly to Arthur Weasley.  He'll be the one that would listen to us and get things done."_

"Would Floo work?"

"Yes, if you could."

"Fine, I can do that."

"Then just hang tight until the Aurors get here.  I don't think fighting would be a smart thing to do with a break."

"I was never good at fighting any way.  I would be more of a hindrance than anything else."

"That's alright.  You Floo and we'll get the counterattack going.  If they come back, don't be afraid to stun them."  Andy walked away, letting Vector get to the Flooing.

{Author's Note:  I'm stopping there just because things are going to get more complex as this builds to the final conclusion.  If I continued this thread here, I could probably get at least twenty some odd pages and still not be done.  I'd suggest that you ignore my Princess Bride quote.  A bit of it is skipped, but I found the whole thing on a monologue web page and excerpted it from there.  I have a slight obsession with that movie.  I have seen it so many times, it's not even funny.  I have no clue what the next chapter will entail.  All I know is that eventually Andy kicks some butt, Snape gets pissed, and Sirius, well, I'm not exactly certain what Sirius does, but he does something.  I finally finished writing this whole damn thing!  Yea!  It is 34 chapters incase anyone was wondering and then I started on the sequel, which is to be called Into the Flames, after an AP Physics test.  I know, I need a lot less free time than the minimal amount I already have.

Dy (I don't feel like writing your whole pen name any more so do you mind if I call you by your other name from now on?)  Yes, go Harry.  I just did that to piss Snape off.

Ignominia:  Does it now?  I agree completely with you.  Mine is "Flying is only falling and missing the ground."

VMorticia:  Of course I have seen Robin Hood: Men In Tights!  The sequel is being written right now.  I have ideas and few basic plot bunnies.  I am a science fanatic.  That's the whole reason Andy does Potions.  I am about a year ahead in science in my high school, since we had advanced science programs in the other district I went to before.  Its one of the few classes I like.  As for math, I am being forced to take Pre-Calculus this year.  Ick.  I'm not too bad in math, but I don't like it.  I make no sense at any time, so its perfectly acceptable.

Hikahi:  Actually, at one's of my friend's school they did the same thing and showed it in Social Studies.  I agree.  Snape does need to get bullied more often and this is actually working better than I expected.  She'll forgive him eventually, maybe within the next three chapters (i.e. the ending of this story and parts of the sequel).  I don't remember what I wrote, so I can't tell you exactly.

Atheis Gainsborough:  Hey!  You have returned!  Yippee!  You shall find that out in the next chapter.  He is evil and does deserve to die.  He might die eventually.  I killed him in one of my other fics.  Well, actually, Harry killed him, but same difference.  There is not another Quidditch match in this story, maybe in the next one.

Peace, Love, and Ice Cream, Nataly Ravenlock}


	33. Crash and Burn

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to, Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this except for Andy and Wyvern, who are only figments of my twisted imagination.}

**Chapter 33**

**Crash and Burn**

_**When you feel all alone/ And a loyal friend is hard to find/ You're caught in a one way street with the monsters in your head/ When hopes and dreams are far away and/ You feel like you can't face the day.  "Crash and Burn" Savage Garden**_

Sirius rushed up the stairs, all his thoughts focused on Harry.  He couldn't let the Death Eaters get him.  No, not Harry.  The boy was his now, there was too much to lose by letting him go.  The Fat Lady was thankfully in her gilded frame.  "Password?"

"Fiddlesticks," he breathed rapidly, having run the entire way.  The portrait swung on invisible hinges, allowing him entrance.  "Just a warning, I suggest you go visit a friend far away from here.  There are Death Eaters in the castle."  The Fat Lady's eyes widened.  Sirius shut the door before he could see if she had listened to his rushed advice.

The Common room was lit only by the flickering of the fireplace.  He could barely make out the dim shadows of students collapsed around the room.  Without a second thought, he lit his wand, shining it through the darkness.  Long shadows disfigured the features, casting their elongated shapes across the plush red carpet.  He found the familiar, messy haired boy on a couch with Ron and Hermione.  No one had gotten to him yet, but that wouldn't last for long.  The Death Eaters would get there soon enough.

He hadn't thought much about what to do with his godson other than take him to some place safe.  Where was safe?  Hogwarts was the safest place he could think of, but now that was a false idea.  The Death Eaters had managed to get in.  Could he get out?  What could he do?  He supposed he could that a passage to Hogsmeade and leave the boy there, but there was no one he would trust to give him to.  The idea hit him.  Yes, it would work.  He raced up to Harry's room, pulling the invisibility cloak from his godson's trunk.  Levitated the boy, he placed the cloak over the inert form.  He changed into his canine form taking his wand in his mouth.  With a flick of his furry head, Harry's sleeping form followed him out a passage in the Gryffindor Common room…

"They're here!" Madame Hooch hissed from her hiding place behind one of the many statuaries.

"Wait until they pass us then give them everything you got."  Remus watched the two columns of black robed figures march past their hiding place unknowing of what was there.

"I'm back," a gentle voice whispered in his ear.  He turned his head slightly to see Andy crouching behind him.

"Good," there was no surprise at seeing her.  She was called Shadow for a reason after all.  "You heard the drill?"

"Yeah, I was here for that.  Permission to kill, captain?"

"Go right ahead.  I don't think the Ministry will care much, though they would probably like a few alive for questioning."

"I'll save a couple."  The last darkly robed figure high stepped away.

"Now!"  The trio leapt out from their various hiding places, shooting spells in every direction.  The last two rows fell to the cold stone.  By that time, the others finally realized what was going on.  Curses shot back and forth, hitting some missing others.

Andy stunned a few of them before she emerged from behind a statue of Ulric the Odd.  With a flick of her wrist, she sent another spell, hitting a Death Eater full force with a magic knife to the throat.  He gurgled on his own blood before crumpling to the ground with his companions.  "That must have hurt," she muttered to no one in particular.

Three Death Eaters circled around her, wands upraised to do major damage to their chosen prey.  "Are you ready to die, bitch?"

"Never!"  She held up her own wand, seeing Sirius appear behind them from a hidden passage.  He blasted a hole through one of them, giving Andy time to move around and attack the others.

"Thanks, Sirius."

"No problem.  It's what I'm here for."

Andy saw the Death Eater behind him.  She leapt on top of Sirius, pushing him to the floor.  What ever curse the Death Eater was planning on casting flew harmlessly into the brick wall.

"You didn't have to thank me that much, Andy."

"Oh, be quiet you."  She rolled away behind another statue, taking choice shots at her opponents.  Though they were few, all four of the Hogwarts staff were trained for defense work and proved to be a dangerous match for the Death Eaters.  

"Retreat!  Retreat!" Remus, who had taken control of the situation, finally realized that things were getting hopeless and that they should bail out before anyone got majorly injured.  He ducked into a passage way that the others knew about.  Sirius dived across the floor, following the lead.  Hooch swept in a few seconds later.

"Where's Andy?" Sirius asked, panting slightly.

"I don't know.  She was right behind us the last time I checked."

"God damn you, Andy.  Why do you always have to disappear on us?" Sirius murmured to no one but himself.  He turned back the way they had come, running at full speed.  He hadn't let them take Harry away from him and he wasn't about to let them have Andy either.

"Sirius, wait!" Remus caught up to him easily.  "You can't just run back out there and hope to find her."

"Yes, I can."

"Andy can take care of herself."

"That's what I'm afraid of.  She'll do something overly stupid and get herself killed by trying to take on a dozen Death Eaters at once."

"She wouldn't do something like that.  She'd fake her death first."

"I don't care, Moony.  I am going to find her whether you like it or not."  Sirius shoved himself away from his friend, continuing down the dimly lit passage way.

Hooch caught up to them a few seconds later.  She watched Sirius jog off down the hall.  "What's he doing?"

"He is going to find Andy."

"And what are we going to do about it?"

"We are going to do nothing.  We get to continue the hit and run attacks on the Death Eaters until the Aurors come."

Hooch nodded.  "Let's go."

Sirius raced back to the secret entrance that came out in the north corridor.  That was where he had last seen Andy.  He had glanced behind him and had seen her pause at the entrance to the tunnel.  Knowing that she was there, he continued his way.  Some time between the few minutes that had passed and when he had seen her last, she had disappeared.  He figured that there were two choices.  Either she had taken a wrong turn, which was highly unlike since she knew the passageways as well as the rest of the Marauders, or the Death Eaters had captured her.  He was going for the second idea.  He opened the secret doorway with a tap of his wand and checked outside.  There were still a few evil minions there.  Some looked deader than others.  He went down to the next door stepping out into any empty hall.  He transformed into his dog form.  It would be less noticeable than a human walking around and the enhanced sense of smell would improve his chances of finding her.

Andy's passage was easy to pick up.  She had a familiar, earthy scent, mixed with an herbal undertone from the potion ingredients.  Padfoot let his nose do the work, following the trail easily through the halls.  The Death Eaters had most likely dragged her uncaringly and didn't mind if they harmed her in the process.  It stopped in front of an unmarked door.  He quickly changed back to human, testing the knob.  It was securely locked.  He recognized the place, knowing another route to get inside.  Head down, he strode down the hall.

"Sirius?" a voice behind him whispered shakily.

He turned back around as Andy staggered into him and wrapped her arms tightly around him.  He held her close out of instinct.  She sobbed quietly in his arms, just needing someone to tell her it was alright.  "What happened?"

Andy looked up him, dark eyes filled with pain and bruises purpling on her pale face.  A few streaks of dried blood were painted darkly across her cheekbone.  "They captured me."

_She had heard Remus call the retreat and had backed into the passage way a few steps behind the other three.  She glanced in front of her to make sure that the others were already there and accounted for.  Something struck her between the shoulder blades.  Andy ignored it set on getting away.  Her feet felt like they had been cemented to the floor.  She couldn't move a muscle._

_"Hey there, gorgeous," one of the Death Eaters spoke menacingly.  "You aren't going to get away, not this time.  You see that copse over there?" he pointed to one of the dead bodies.  Andy couldn't see which one.  "That was my younger brother.  He was just a young kid, graduated about two years ago from this very school.  He had a full life ahead of him.  You killed him.  I can't let you get away with that."  The Death Eater grabbed her arm and pulled her down.  He dragged her into an empty classroom halfway down the hall.  "Permission to torture her, sir?"_

_"Of course.__  The Master said to kill anyone who got in our way.  Make it entertaining."_

_"Yes, sir," the Death Eater pointed his wand at her and cast a spell to remove the impediment that had been cast on her.  Andy collapsed to the cold stone.  She got her feet underneath her and sprung into a low crouch, wand out held.  She muttered the same spell she had cast on his brother, catching the Death Eater full on in the throat.  He fell with a loud thump._

_One of the other Death Eaters laughed evilly.  "Well, well, well.  I suppose since you just took out another one of us, you do deserve to die.  Crucio__!"___

_She hit the floor shaking violently with the pain.  Spasms shook her entire body with agony and suffering.  Somehow she withheld the screams, the torture constricting her voice to nothing above a mere whisper.  Her muscles tightened with torment.  As soon as it started, the man spoke the ending words.  She lay there whimpering._

_"You aren't as strong you seemed to be.  This may be easier than we had thought."_

_Andy pulled herself back to the crouch she had been in before, finding that her wand had disappeared and was being held by yet another one of Voldemort's minions.  "You're wrong," she hissed, grabbing the knife that she had stuck in her belt earlier.  She leapt like her alter ego forest cat on to the Death Eater that had been torturing her, jabbing him with the sharp blade.  The pain still emanated from every bone of her body, but she ignored it out of the pure need to do so.  Another one grabbed her roughly, yanking her off their leader.  She felt ropes bind her arms to her sides._

_The Death Eater wiped the smear of blood from his cheek.  The knife had only managed to nick him twice.  "You little bitch!"  He smacked her hard across the face.  Andy squirmed, trying to hit back though she knew she could not break the bonds that held her down.  He aimed a swift kick to her ribs, continuing to pummel her with fists and feet.  She had given up trying to fight it and took every blow without a sound._

_"Stop," a cold voice spoke.  "Leave her.  She's not worth our time.  The Master sent us on a mission.  This is not part of it."  Two more had walked in half way through the torture.  "We have located the Gryffindor tower.  You lot come with me." He turned to the Death Eater that had followed him in.  "I shall give you the pleasure of finishing her off.  I believe she has some debts to repay you as well."_

_The second minion spoke up.  "Thank you.  This shall be enjoyable."  He pointed his wand at her, making sure she wasn't going to move.  The others left him alone with the broken Gryffindor.  He saw a shadow waiting at the door and walked up to where she was curled up, weeping softly.  He backhanded her hard with an open palm._

_Andy struggled to a sitting position.  "You fucking, masochistic bastard!"_

_The Death Eater noticed the shadow had left.  He pointed his wand at her once more, removing the bonds that held her down.  She sprung up, favoring the side that had been kicked the hardest.  She grabbed the wand he had been holding plus her own, which had been passed to him._

_"What now?"  She stuck the other wand in the back waistband of her pants._

_"McGee, calm down and give me back my wand."_

_Deep in her mind, Andy recognized the voice behind the mask, but ignored it.  "No."  She summoned a chair and shoved him into it.  With a wave of her own wand she tightly bound him to it.  Walking up to him, she looked into the eyes that the mask did not hide.  She removed the black form from his face.  "Hello, Severus.  What a pleasure to see you here."_

_"Untie me.  Now."  He struggled against the bindings, finding it useless to do so but not giving it up._

_"I don't think so.  You're staying right where you are.  I don't care what you're doing; you're not going any where."  She threw his mask into a dark corner and aimed her wand once more at his chest.  With a few words, his Death Eater apparel vanished.  "There.  Now you don't have to worry.  You're just another professor bound to a chair by the Death Eaters."_

_"You're not a Death Eater."_

_"No, but they did almost the same thing to Octavia Vector, so it doesn't matter much."  She laid his wand on floor a few feet from the chair.  "Bye, Sev."_

_"McGee, wait."_

_Andy turned back around slowly.  "What?"_

_"Do you have Potter?"_

_"Sirius got him.  He's somewhere safe."_

_"Good.  The others are heading for the __Gryffindor__Tower__ as we speak."_

_"I figured that much."  She stumbled out of the room into a deserted corridor.  To her left an unmistakable figure walked.  "Sirius?"_

_He turned toward her, looking amazed to see her.  Andy limped to him wrapping her arms around him.  She needed someone familiar after what they had done to her.  He returned the embrace, pleased to have found her this easily.  "What happened?"_

_"They captured me."  Everything poured out in a jumble of words._

Sirius held her tighter.  They would pay for doing this to his girl.  "It'll be alright.  The Aurors just got here."

"Good.  We need them."

One of the white cloaked Aurors approached them cautiously.  "Which way did the Death Eaters go?"

"Toward the Gryffindor Tower.  You know where that is?"

The Auror nodded.  "Yes, thank you."  The pack of Aurors left the hall in a blur of pure white, leaving Sirius and Andy alone.

"Are you alright?"

Andy shook her head, still lying against his chest.  "I'll be fine."

"No, you aren't, not with bruises like that.  We're getting you to the infirmary."  Sirius picked her up easily in his arms.

"I'm fine," she protested weakly.  The anger and adrenaline that had held her through were slowly starting to wear off.  Every bone and muscle in her body ached from the curses and the beating.

The Infirmary wasn't far from the corridor where he had found her.  Sirius placed her on one of the beds.  He dug through the cupboards, searching for something to ease her pain.

"The white one, to the left," Andy could see the cupboards from where she lay.  "That one."

Sirius took the one she had told him to get and handed it to her.  "Here."

She swallowed it with one gulp.  "It won't do anything, but it will help the pain.  Thanks, Sirius."

"No problem," he sat on the bed next to her.  For the first time in months, Andy felt the animosity that had been between them dissolve to nothing.

Remus stalked through the halls with a predatorial grace.  Hooch stayed close behind, more awkward in the shadows.  The Gryffindor Tower was untouched, but he figured all he would have to do was wait for the Death Eaters to show up.  His idea was not too far off, as the Death Eaters appeared within a moment.

"Strike them again?" Hooch asked by his side.

"Yes," he pulled out his wand ready for another onslaught of magical destruction.  He shot out curses from the shadows.  Out of no where a pack of white robed Aurors appeared, casting spells that disabled all of the Death Eaters standing there.  Remus stepped out of his hiding place.

The Aurors looked at him, finding no threat.  One approached the two professors.  "You held them off this long?"

"Four of us did."

"Impressive.  Where are the other two?"

Remus shook his head.  "I don't know.  Andy disappeared and Sirius went after her.  I don't know what happened to them."

"What do they look like?"

"Sirius is tall, long black hair and Andy's shorter with shoulder length blonde hair and dark eyes."

"We found them a few minutes ago.  They were headed up to the infirmary by the looks of it."

"Thanks."

"No problem, though we should probably be thanking you for holding them off this long.  Any idea where the Potter boy is?"

"I don't, but Sirius does."

"Right.  I am going to send a few of my people up to debrief you on what happened after we get these guys cleared up."

"There might be a few in the fourth floor east wing."

"We'll see what we can do."

Remus walked away, Hooch close behind like a specter.  All the fighting had taken a toll on her.  Sirius and Andy both were in the infirmary as the Aurors had said.

"Hey, Remus," Sirius spoke.  "I told you I'd find her."

He looked over at Andy, fully awake in the hospital bed.  "Yeah, I know.  They got you?"

"Yeah, I tried to fight them off.  They beat me up a bit and I think I killed one of them.  They left Snape to finish me off and I tied him to a chair in the Muggle Studies classroom."

"Is he still there?"

"Probably."

Sirius looked at her.  "So there really isn't anything between the two of you, is there?"

"Why?"

"Well, if you actually did like him, you wouldn't have tied him to the chair."

Andy grinned lopsidedly.  "Sirius, if it had been you, I would have tied you to the chair with out any doubts about it."

{Author's Note: There is one more chapter after this one to be posted and then this fic will be all over.  Then of course, you have the sequel (Into The Flames), so do not get pissed because the ending sucks.

JediCallista:  I know it should have been T.S. Elliot, instead of Andrew Lloyd Webber, but I was going off the Cats soundtrack at the time, instead of the book, so that is why it is that way. I believe they actually call Marvin the paranoid Android in the books somewhere.  I could find the page reference for you, but my friend has my Guide so, I can't.  What do you mean by minor bits?

Atheis Gainsborough:  He could, theoretically, if he really wanted to, but not this time, maybe in the next one.  I have a large obsession with Princess Bride.  I watch it every time I stay home sick.  It's a ritual.  I stay in my pajamas, make a mug of tea in my Slytherin coffee mug, and watch Princess Bride.

VMorticia:  I like cliffhangers, so there.  And I am Slytherin, so there's another reason.  Plus the two chapters together would make about 14 pages, which is twice as long as a normal chapter for me.  I felt like splitting them to make it a bit more even.

Shasa Perino: Thanks.  Take your time reading.  It doesn't bother me that I have a total of 85 reviews.  It's better than the first story I posted that has a total of 15 with 14 chapters.  Ramble all you want.  I do, hence where this story came from.

LilyPotter:  Alright, let's see if I can explain this.  Voldemort ordered Sev to brew him the potions, but never specified what they were to be used for.  He did not let Sev in on the fact that they were planning to attack Hogwarts because he still is not certain of where his loyalties lie.  Therefore, Sev did not know what was being planned until it happened and was given short notice as to when he was suppose to be there.  The Evil Overlord's favorite saying is 'trust no one,' (X-Files) so he refuses to let Sev in on things pertaining to Hogwarts.  That makes a total of 5 people that put me on favorite's lists!  Woo-hoo!  It doesn't take much to get me excited now, does it?  Thanks!

Hope you enjoyed it!  Peace, Love, and Oreos, Nataly Ravenlock}


	34. Twilight

{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to, Warner Brothers and Scholastic Books.  I, therefore, own no parts of this, save for Andy and Wyvern, who are parts of my twisted imagination.}

**Chapter 34**

**Twilight**

_**I was stained with a role in a day not my own/ As you walked into my life, you showed what needed to be shown/ And I always knew what was right/ Just didn't know that I might/ Peel away and choose to see with such indifferent sight/ I will never see the sky the same way/ And I will learn to say good bye to yesterday/ And I will never cease to fly if held down/ And I will always reach too high/ Because I've seen/ Because I've seen twilight.  "Twilight" Vanessa Carlton**_

            The white robed Auror stopped before entering the Infirmary.  He peered in through the cloudy glass.  They were a sorry looking bunch, he had to admit.  Two sat on the bed, Sirius with his arm protectively around Andy.  She looked the worst out of all of them with sickly purple bruises covering most of her face.  Remus leaned against the bed post, arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed.  Hooch sat in a nearby chair with her head buried in her hands.  It had impressed him that four professors had succeeded in holding off the Death Eaters this long.  He shook his head.  At least no one had died.  He entered the room, all four taking note of his arrival.  "You are the four that held off the Death Eaters, I presume?"

"Yes," Remus answered for all of them.  "We are."

"There are, um, two professors that aren't here that you might want to find, though.  One's up in the Arithmancy room with a broken wrist.  She's the one that called you guys and another is tied to a chair in the Muggle Studies classroom," Andy added, voicing it before she forgot about everything.

"We'll look into that," the man touched a button on a black box hanging from his belt.  He spoke a few words into it.  "How about the Potter boy?"

"He should be fine.  I took care of him."

"Where is he?"

Sirius grinned sheepishly.  "Are you familiar with Hogsmeade?"  The Auror nodded.  "You know the Shrieking Shack?"

"Yes."

"He's in there."

The Auror gave him an odd look.  "How'd you get him in there?"

"We know a lesser known entrance to it."

"Very well, I will send another Auror to retrieve him and return him to the Gryffindor Common rooms."  He spoke again into his box.  "Is there anything else that we should know about?"

No one answered, not thinking about any other facts that would be important.

"Alright.  I shall trust all of you to keep this to yourselves and not tell any of the students or the other professors what happened.  I personally will let Dumbledore know about what has occurred as soon as he is revived.  Do any of you know how long the potion will last?"

"No," Andy answered quietly, still hurting from her ordeal.  "But Snape might."

"Where is he?"

As if by magic or at least extremely good luck, two more Aurors walked into the room, escorting Snape and Vector inside.  The Slytherin glared murderously at Andy before retreating to a corner.  The Auror who was doing the interrogating turned to the man.  "How long is the potion supposed to last?"

Snape was puzzled by the question.  He had obviously missed something.  "Six hours at the least, eight at the most.  It was one of the weaker sleeping potions.  The effects should wear off fairly soon."

The Auror felt relieved.  "Good.  It'll only take a few hours for them to wake up and by then it will be after midnight so we should be safe.  I already explained it to the others.  You are to tell no one about this except for Dumbledore, who I shall personally contact.  Agreed?"

There was a murmur of assent from the bone weary teaching staff.

"Then we shall leave you now and take care of our prisoners.  I suggest you try to get some sleep," the Aurors left in a swirl of white, leaving silence in their wake.

Snape stayed as far away from Black as possible.  He hated to see Andy back with him.  If someone had done what he did to her to him, he would not have been that quick to forgive.  He would have killed the person in the first chance he got.

"How's your wrist?" Andy spoke up, shattering the dead blanket of stillness.

"Its fine now," Vector held up the limb, showing it was in one piece.  "The Auror that found me was a mediwizard.  She fixed it for me."

"Good."

Sirius stood up, offering Andy a hand up.  She declined, standing uncertainly on her own.  They walked out of the room in a silent procession that reminded her strangely of a funeral march.

"Come on, I'm taking you back to your rooms," Sirius blamed himself for everything that had happened to her.

"No, I have to apologize."

It took him a moment to realize what she meant.  "What's the point?  He's only a Slytherin."

"Sirius, I have to."

"Why?"

"Because I have to.  It's just something that needs to be done."

He saw no point in arguing.  It would accomplish nothing.  "Fine, but I'm not waiting for you."

"Go right ahead."

She watched the others peel off into their own directions that would lead them to sleep.  Snape was the last to leave, as she had guessed he would be.  Andy waited by the door.

The Slytherin scowled, seeing her there.  "McGee," he said, voice as frozen as an icicle.

"Hey, Sev.   I wanted to apologize, for tying you to the chair.  It wasn't the best thing to do.  I wasn't thinking straight."

"Obviously you weren't."

"I didn't mean it."

He looked down at her, seeing her in full light for the first time that night.  He hadn't noticed how badly she had been injured.  Out of instinct, he took her face in his hand, leaning down to look at a rather large bruise on her cheek.  He traced the edge of it gently with a long finger.  It was where he had hit her.  "What in the gods names did they do to you?"

"They beat me.  You saw the end of it.  They used the Cruciatus on me before that."

Snape let her go.  "That's why you did it."

"Yes."

"I'm going to get you fixed up.  You can't go around looking like that.  It will give too many people wrong ideas.  Did you take anything for it?"

"Only a pain killer.  It was the only thing that I recognized in the cupboard.  I don't trust Poppy enough to know exactly what she has in there."

"She was never very good at organization.  Come on."

Andy stumbled a few steps, not realizing how much she really hurt.  Snape put out a hand to steady her.  "Can you make it down to the dungeons without killing yourself?"

"I don't know," she faltered.  "I can try."

"Trying is not good enough."  He paused for a moment, contemplating the safest way to get her down to where he could heal her.  He scooped easily her into his arms, carrying her as he had through the edges of the forest.

"What the hell are you trying to do?"

"It's the easiest way, McGee.  Using magic would be too risky for both your good and mine."

"Sure, Sev," she refrained from adding a few inappropriate comments.  Andy wrapped her arms around his neck, not minding at all that she was being carried down the halls of Hogwarts like a young child.  What the students would think if they saw them like this!  She smiled to herself.  It would get a few rumors going, but they wouldn't be seen.  The Death Eaters were to be thanked for that.

He set her down lightly outside an unfamiliar doorway.  With a simple word, it swung open.  Snape guided her inside.  "Take a seat.  I'll see what I can find."

Andy collapsed into a soft dark chair.  What ever the Death Eaters had done to her, they had done it to be as painful as possible.  She let her eyes adjust to well-lit room.  It was decorated spartanly in green, silver, and black.  She guessed it was the Slytherin's apartments.  From another room came sounds of glass jars clanging together and things being moved around.

"Here.  This should clear up the bruises."  A goblet filled with a dark red, steaming mixture was handed to her.  She sipped at it, cringing at the bitter taste.

"Thanks."  Andy pushed her self standing, grimacing as she did so.

"It still hurts?" Snape sounded puzzled.  The potion should have removed any pain associated with the bruising.

"A bit," she answered truthfully.  "Right here mostly."  She laid her hand on her rib cage.

"Do you mind if I check?"

"What do you mean, check?"

"To see if you broke anything," he made it sound like it was her fault.

"Fine."  Andy lifted up the edge of her shirt, pointing out the fading, bruised patch of ribs.

Snape ran his finger lightly over her skin, feeling her prominent rib cage.  She was still too thin, even after months out of Azkaban.  He could feel her wince as he put light pressure on the area.  "They're cracked, at least.  What did they hit you with?"

"A steel-toed boot."  

"A swift kick would do it."  

"How can you tell?"

"I am a certified mediwizard, McGee.  I am trained in being able to recognize these things."  He left once more to locate some other cure.  Andy pulled down the tank top she was wearing, falling back into the chair.  It hadn't bothered her.  At least he seemed to care about what the Death Eaters had done to her.  Sirius knew what happened, but he refrained from pushing her farther than she would go.  He would have let her fend for herself to heal her injuries if she told him to leave her alone.  Sev was just as stubborn, but he did not listen to anything she said to get out of it.  He had bodily brought her down to his own dormitory and now was attempting to find ways to make her better.  Sirius would never have done anything like that.

The Slytherin returned with another vial.  "This a bit more potent than regular Skele-Gro.  It'll fix anything that might be broken."

Andy swallowed the concoction.  She could feel her ribs mending back together more quickly than they should have.  "What the hell is in this stuff?"  She stared at the vial as if it would reveal its contents.

"It's something I created actually," Snape loosely perched on the arm of a chair across from her.  "I find that the regular solution they sell is not as effective."

"So you made your own?"

"Exactly.  It is still in the testing stage, but it works well enough."

"You are using me as a lab rat?"  Her eyes widened indignantly in shock.

"No, not at all.  There are no kinks in the potion.  It works fine as it is.  I am only trying to improve it still."

"Sure.  You just haven't been able to find enough people with broken limbs to do a full test run on it yet."

"The Quidditch matches give me enough of those.  My Slytherins know enough that they can come to me for medical treatment."

"So you test it on your own students?"

"They trust me enough to let me do so."

Andy laughed, feeling her rib cage no longer aching.  Her eyes felt heavy and she let them slide shut.  Within moments, she was sound asleep.  Snape watched for a moment, wondering what she had found to be funny.  That was the only major side effect of his potion.  It caused the person to become extremely drowsy.  He moved her to the forest green couch, placing a fuzzy, charcoal-colored comforter over her.  It would be best to let her sleep it off.

She awoke to the sound of someone's voice.  Her eyes flashed open in a moment of panic as she snapped up.  It took Andy a moment to remember what had happened the previous night.  She forced herself to relax.  They were only Snape's rooms.  Her conscience was telling her that this wrong and that she shouldn't be here.  She told the voice to shut up, concentrating on what the other living voice was saying.

"Yes, she's asleep on my couch right now."  She recognized the dark voice as Snape's.  There was a pause as the other person, or at least she assumed it was another person, replied.  "No, of course not.  She had a run in with the other Death Eaters.  She looked horrible.  Poppy was still out, so I healed what I could."  There was another pause.  Andy was getting curious.  She rolled out from under the blanket, landing lightly on the balls of her feet.  She crept toward where the voices were coming from and slowly poked her head around the corner.  Dumbledore's head blazed in the fireplace.

"Good morning, Andromeda," the Head Master intoned.  He had been waiting for her to make an appearance.

Andy stepped in the room, well aware of Snape's glare.  "Hello, sir."

"How long have you been there?" the Slytherin snapped irritably.  He did not appreciate eves-dropping.

"As a matter of fact, not very long.  You woke me up."

Dumbledore waited for her answer before continuing.  "Now that we have located you, Andromeda, I need to see both of you in my office immediately."  The fire place returned to its normal orangey-red flames.

"So what did I miss?" Andy asked brightly as they left the apartments.

"You should be quite proud of yourself, McGee.  Black and Lupin were firmly convinced that you had disappeared and blamed everything on me, again."

"Wow.  I suppose the fact that I was sleeping on your couch didn't help much, did it?"

"Dumbledore found it quite amusing."

"Blood Pops."  The gargoyle leapt out of the way, allowing them entrance to the staircase up to the office.  The door was already open.

"Come in.  Take a seat.  This may take a while."  Dumbledore watched them closely as they sat down in the overstuffed armchairs that he kept in his office.  The differences between them never failed to amaze him.  Snape kept his immaculate appearance paired with good posture and a natural sense of deep calmness overshadowed by intensity.  The only word he could use to describe Andy was tousled.  Her hair was still short enough to stick out at what ever angle it wanted to and her clothing had obviously been slept in.  As long as they continued to get along, the differences did not bother him.  "I need to know something, Severus.  What exactly was used in the sleeping potion?"

"It was only a relatively simple one, very weak compared to most.  My master ordered me to brew it.  Another Death Eater picked it up before the Quidditch match.  I believe they must have placed the vials around the school, using time spells to get them all to open at the same time and turn them into a gas so that it spread through out the entire ventilation system."

"Will there be any side effects?"

"There are none that I know of."

"Very well.  I wanted to thank you both for defending Hogwarts.  Without any of you, we would have been doomed."

"You're welcome," Andy replied, knowing Snape would not.

"Of course, the Aurors have agreed to pay you full compensation for placing yourself in grave danger."  Both younger professors nodded in understanding.  "Now on to other matters.  Remus refuses to stay on another year with the Defense classes.  Do either you know anyone who might be able to take over the class?"

Snape perked up unobtrusively.  To any one who did not know him very well, it would have appeared as nothing, but to Andy, who had been watching him closely since she had been reintroduced him, it was something.  There were only minute changes of his posture and expression, but it was enough to tell her that he wanted it.  He said nothing in response, unsure of how to breach the idea with the Head Master.

"I can only think of two possible people who might be qualified for the job," she spoke up softly.

"Who?"

"The first one would be Sirius."

"No," Dumbledore shook his head negative.  "The Ministry has other plans for him in the next year.  Who else?"

She paused.  "Severus."

The Head Master glanced at the Slytherin, seeing the same things that Andy had.  "Who would take over as Potions Master, if Severus were to instruct Defense?"

"Me."

"Would you be willing to do so?"

"Sure, I have nothing else planned with my life yet."

"Severus, would you be willing to change fields?"

Snape had been thrilled by the suggestion.  He had not wanted to voice the option.  There was too much owed to the Head Master to ask him for what he wanted.  Somehow Andy had known.  "I would be more than willing to do so."

"Then it is settled.  I will get the contracts to both of you as soon as I have a chance to write them up."

"Is that everything?"

"Yes, I believe it is.  Good day to both of you, breakfast should be starting momentarily."

Andy and Snape left the office, Dumbledore closely watching their every move.  Both of them had gotten what they had wanted, even if they had not realized it.  Andy had gotten the security of having a place to go.  Severus had gotten his Defense Against the Dark Arts, which the Head Master knew he had been vying for, for the longest time.

"I suppose I should thank you, McGee," Snape said.

"You probably should."

"Thank you."

Andy smiled widely.  "That must have been difficult."

"No.  It was only a matter of timing.  How could you tell I wanted the position?"

"Elementary, my dear Severus.  Actually, it was you posture.  He said the thing about the opening and you seemed to straighten up and look more interested.  It also helps that you entire book shelf of your apartment is filled with tomes pertaining to the Dark Arts.  I put two and two together.  You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all."

She looked at her watch.  "I have to run.  I want to find Sirius and explain to him what happened.  Hopefully he won't throw too much of a hissy fit.  See you later, Sev!"

_Not at all…It echoed in his mind.  He hadn't minded her at all.  In fact he was beginning to enjoy her company.  He almost was glad that she was returning to Hogwarts next year.  He watched her stride down the hall away from him.  It was too bad she was a Gryffindor after all._

THE END

{Author's Note: And here I shall end Second Chances.  The whole thing took about seven months to write.  It is 34 chapters, 118 pages single spaced, size 10 font, and 87, 578 words without author's notes or disclaimers.  It was a hell of a thing to write, I will say that much.  I grew extremely attached to Andy in the end.  She was one of my first 3-D characters that I have ever written.  It took me a while, but eventually I learned how she would react and why she would react in the matter she did.  She was very amusing to write.

I would like to thank J.K. Rowling, for creating the Harry Potter universe, Jess, who beta-ed a good amount of this and helped me with some parts, Anna Black and Kary Starr, who gave me ideas that were used to create my tale, and Iggie, who put up with me rambling in IM's.

I am going to warn you that I think am writing a sequel to this entitled Into the Flames.  The characters were too addicting to stop with and I have a few controversial ideas in my head.  It may take me a while to get it written and posted, given that I want to at least try and finish my other fan fic that I stopped writing to devote my time to this one.  That would be Chaos: Tie-Dyed and Loving It!, for those of you who have no clue what I talking about.  People seemed to like it even though I still don't.  I think its terrible, my character is a Mary Sue, and there is no plot whatsoever other than to make Draco's, and Snape's lives miserable.  Never mind.  It is not worth your time.  Now on to the actual reviews:

LilyPotter: Exactly.  He honestly likes her, though he doesn't realize it very well.  He's not completely loyal to the Death Eater cause, so he freed her and she tied him to a chair.  Go ahead, ramble.  I honestly don't mind.  I get accused of doing that too much.

Shasa Perino:  Really?  ::Author blushes as she takes a bow in full Martial Arts Gi (uniform)::  Fight scenes are one of the few things I am very adept at writing, though that chapter was a short one.  I spent a full page in another story on a sword/ bo staff duel and that was without killing anyone.  I have studied martial arts for about ten years.  I currently have my second degree black belt and spend on average any where from three to seven hours at the karate school that I go to per week.  I am also an assistant instructor at the school.  So I better know the basics of fighting by now.  I have this entire tale one written, so it's easy to post.  I'm trying to get the sequel typed, but I have no time.  It will happen eventually.  I also haven't worked on another one of my stories since June, (maybe?) so the coin is two sided.

VMorticia:  I like writing massacres.  Hopefully there might be more in the sequel, considering I can actually write those.

Atheis Gainsborough:  Woo-hoo!  That's great!  You have Snape tied to a chair…I want one!

Ignominia:  Exciting?  Haha!  That's hilarious!  Now I have to go back and figure out why what I wrote was exciting.  Yours doesn't ramble as much as you think it does.  And the only reason I'm splitting this here is because I didn't want a seventy chapter rambling thing, so it's being stopped and restarted.

Jess:  Spy sequence of Kilroy!  Spies!  They may be wearing a disguise!  Oh, boy…You're right, that was great and I got to wear a trench coat.  I get warm fuzzy feelings!  Yeah! 

I think that is it!  I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it.  Peace, Love, and Ice Cream, Nataly Ravenlock!}


End file.
